80,000 Hours - Narrations

[Career review] “Macrostrategy research” by Zershaaneh Qureshi


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What if your job was to think carefully about the long-term future of humanity? Macrostrategy research is one of the most neglected (and potentially most important) career paths focused on tackling the world's most pressing problems. We break down what macrostrategy researchers actually do, why the rise of advanced AI makes their work more urgent than ever, and what it takes to succeed in a field where the questions are enormous, the feedback loops are slow, and the number of people working on it can be counted in the dozens.

Narrated by AI.

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Outline:

(00:10) Summary

(02:12) Recommended

(02:21) Review status

(02:26) What is macrostrategy research, and why work on it?

(06:08) Why work on macrostrategy research?

(08:02) What are the downsides to working on macrostrategy?

(08:07) You might struggle to get a job

(08:54) It may be difficult to make progress

(10:22) It might be hard to influence decision makers

(11:31) It might be better to focus on more speculative issues later

(13:21) Would you be a good fit for macrostrategy research?

(13:26) What skills and traits are needed to succeed?

(15:29) What experience is useful?

(17:16) Non-research paths

(17:52) Example people

(17:56) Rose Hadshar

(18:53) Top organisations

(21:01) Next steps

(21:05) If youre ready to apply for jobs

(21:27) If you need, test your fit or build career capital first

(23:49) If you want to learn more

(26:48) Speak with us

(26:51) Want one-on-one advice on pursuing this path?

The original text contained 4 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

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First published:

April 16th, 2026

Source:

https://80000hours.org/career-reviews/macrostrategy-research

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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