Ask HN: Is doing a Master's worth the opportunity cost

Currently I'm a Team Lead for a Machine Learning team at a mid-sized company. I'm really enjoying the work environment so far and have been given a lot of opportunities for growth and advancement. However, it seems like a lot of companies require some sort of graduate studies for more ML/AI oriented roles.

I really enjoy doing research (and have published some papers in the recent past) and I think that doing a Master' degree would be a good career move long term, but I am not sure how to reconcile that with losing 2 years of salary and career advancement.

Wondering if anyone has made the jump or has worked long enough in the industry to give some insights.