Why not less focused work over more years? The argument makes zero sense to me. Of course a lot of study and also applying what you learned are important. But

Why not less focused work over more years? The argument makes zero sense to me. Of course a lot of study and also applying what you learned are important. But having a PhD says very little about a person's ability to do data science or machine learning work. Especially since most phds have an extreme focus on their narrow field.