At 12 years old, Alister Mac Cormack wanted a computer that could run the video games his existing machine could barely handle.

Buying one was out of reach, so he decided to build it himself.

The technical challenge was only part of the problem.

He also needed to earn enough money to pay for the components.Mac Cormack began saving and taking on work for other people.

Those early jobs required him to listen carefully, understand what someone needed, and produce something useful.

The experience connected technical curiosity with the practical demands of solving a problem for another person."Building the computer taught me about the hardware," Mac Cormack said.

"Earning the money for it taught me how to understand what someone needed and deliver work that helped them."Once the machine was assembled, new questions replaced the old ones.

Mac Cormack knew what the parts did, but he wanted to understand how software controlled them.

A programming book from his school library gave him a place to begin.Learning to Build Without a Set PathMac Cormack taught himself to code as a teenager by working through the book and testing what he learned.

Programming let him move beyond using computers and begin shaping what they could do."The first time I sat behind a computer, it felt like magic," he said.

"Coding was how I started understanding what was happening underneath and how I could build something myself."That interest soon moved beyond personal projects.

Mac Cormack began solving problems for other people and working with startups in different industries.

His experience included medical systems and residential solar, followed by work in banking and cybersecurity.Each setting gave him a new kind of problem to examine.

The subject matter changed, but the process remained similar.

He had to understand an unfamiliar system, identify what was failing or missing, and determine whether software could improve it.Mac Cormack continued working while completing a demanding, in-person university program.

The schedule required him to negotiate unconventional arrangements with teachers and employers.

Many days ended with more work after classes were finished."In Chile, most people do not start working in the field until their final year or after graduation," he said.

"I wanted to start earlier, so I had to look for opportunities and convince people that I could do the work."Letting Results Establish CredibilityMac Cormack often entered professional settings without the credentials employers expected to see.

Some underestimated him before reviewing what he had already built or solved.He responded by focusing on the work itself."I had to show through results what a diploma is often assumed to show," he said.

"That pushed me to be direct about what I could do and to prove it through the outcome."His interest in difficult systems eventually led him deeper into cybersecurity.

Mac Cormack performed penetration testing for banks and other financial entities while working at Nivel4.

He also conducted independent penetration testing for the....