Looking to build career in RL. Is PhD the only option?

Hi,
I’m an MS (non thesis) student from a well known public university in the US.
I have taken RL course in my last semester and it was bit difficult for me initially. The professor basically dumped many advanced topics without spending much time on the basic topics like multi armed bandits.

However, I have gradually started liking the subject and been thinking of having a career in this field. That’s why I was looking to do some research in this summer

But, my RL professor suggested me to look for internships.

Currently I’m doing intern as an Agentic AI developer at a telecom company.
Honestly, it is like 90% software development work.

Is PhD the only option for me?