I am currently in the process of transitioning to a high-impact career path. I am focusing on testing my fit for generalist research (especially foundational research), but also keeping the possibility in mind that I might turn out be a better fit for another type of role (e.g., operations). My professional background is in business research, first as a desk researcher and currently as a project manager. I am a generalist by tendency. My interests include philosophy of mind (nature/illusion of self and free will, hard problem of consciousness, meditation, well-being), effective altruism (global priorities research, s-risks, x-risks), morality, rationality, and cooperation.
I am currently contemplating a similar switch to software engineering or data science. Your post and the comments here are helpful in getting some perspective, as I have been asking myself similar questions. Since it has been a year now, may I ask how has your plan gone so far? How did you go about upskilling in software engineering and did you already start the job seeking process? If you don't feel like publicly stating these things, also feel free to DM me.