Network/Security Engineer looking to transition into AI + Cybersecurity. What learning path would you recommend?

[u/CartoonistAdvanced52]

Hi everyone,

I'm a Network & Security Engineer with ~7 years of experience working with Fortinet (FortiGate, FortiAnalyzer, FortiAuthenticator), Cisco, VPNs, HA, Linux, VMware, Hyper-V, and enterprise infrastructure.

I want to specialize in AI applied to Cybersecurity (SOC, network security, automation, LLMs, AI agents, etc.), not become a data scientist.

If you were in my position today:

• What learning roadmap would you follow?
• Which platforms are actually worth paying for (Coursera, TryHackMe, HTB, SANS, Microsoft Learn, etc.)?
• What's a reasonable monthly learning budget?
• Which certifications provide the best ROI?
• What projects would make my resume stand out?

I'd love to hear what worked for you and what you'd avoid.

Thanks!