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Breaking into the AI Sector: Tips for Aspiring AI Engineers

Who are Artificial Intelligence Engineers, and how can we differentiate them from data scientists and other software engineers? What’s the hiring process for an AI professional, and what personality traits, or skills, an AI firm looks for in an AI engineer?

These are all such questions that revolve around the heads of aspiring AI professionals 24/7. In this article, we will be answering the same.

How Do People Become Artificial Intelligence Engineers: The Roadmap

Those, who first step on to the journey of becoming an AI professional. Start with developing a skillset around coding, usually in Python, or R. They work really hard o their data science skills too, at the same time. That includes data modeling, data analysis, data mining, data visualization, and other such skills related to data mapping.

Market forecasting, statistical analysis, and familiarity with the use of data analytics tools are the other three important skills you need to learn to enter the said domain. Enrolling in an online AI Certification program would prove to be a great initiative in this direction.

Comparison Among AI Engineers, Data Scientists, and Software Engineers

A conventional software engineer’s role is limited to serving some sort of an app. At a  technology firm, usually, software engineers would focus on developing new features. That the consumers would most probably like to see. Besides, they will ensure that there is an apt backend infrastructure to support the site 24/7. And it’s functioning in a smooth manner at all times.

However, an AI engineer will be seen working on the below provided three aspects:

  • The software for training
  • The software for annotation and labeling.
  • The software at inference time

And hence, as an AI professional, you will get the opportunity to build sophisticated models and determine the customer experience in an unconventional manner.

Data scientists, on the other hand, would focus heavily on the analysis part. They will be seen preparing data pipelines that help assist companies make smart, and informed business decisions. Data professionals, very precisely, identify the metrics that possess the potential. To change the fate of the business, and later, work on them.

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Most sought after AI talents across organizations in the U.S. in 2018

The Recruitment Process for an Artificial Intelligence Engineer

You will need to face one round of interviews wherein you will be asked questions regarding algorithm building and development. In the same round of interviews, questions on the use, and familiarity with ML & AI tools, can be expected. By asking these questions, the hiring manager will get an idea of where you stand in terms of understanding AI.

The other round of interviews will consist of questions on your work experience. Your professional portfolio, and a few details on the AI systems you have built in the past. Details regarding how did you build those AI systems, and what kind of work went into it. And how you would have done it better, can be asked.

What Does a Hiring Firm Look For in an Ideal AI Professional?

The AI industry usually looks for the following personality traits, and skillset:

  • Individuals who are curious in nature, and ready to learn new skills.
  • Individuals who come from a well-suited educational background, like computer science, statistics, economics, mathematics, or a related subject discipline.
  • People that are skilled at developing AI and machine learning systems.
  • People who know, and understand varied kinds of experimentation frameworks.

Any firm that is leveraging AI in its business functions, and processes, would like to hire a professional who is really good at at least one thing (a specific skill within the AI domain). No one can become good at everything that falls under a specific work domain, or industry. We will go one step further to say that having a specialization within a certain domain of work, is what separates a great professional from an average worker.