The advancement of technologies like automation and AI is causing significant changes in almost every industry and also affecting the job market. According to several reports, AI may impact up to 700 million jobs worldwide and create new jobs by the end of 2030. In this guide, you will learn about everything that is required to become an AI Engineer. This guide focuses on providing information on how you can kickstart your career as an AI Engineer, including the required skills, responsibilities, qualifications, and average salaries in the industries and what opportunities you are having. Let’s start the discussion by going through the next section. 

How to Become an Artificial Intelligence Engineer?

For a successful AI Engineer, skills are needed, which can be learned by enrolling in programs or selling learning. There are some technical and non-technical skills that this rile demands from you to have expertise. You must have knowledge of statistics, calculus, or algebra and an understanding of AI learning models to work with algorithms. Must have knowledge of programming languages such as Python, C++, Java, and R, with a solid understanding of Algorithms to build, modify, and deploy. Having hands-on experience or abilities to program the system to process and analyze big data sets, along with knowledge of NLP, ML, and other AI models to be used in one system. You must also be a critical thinker with creative and analytical problem-solving skills. Good at data research, developing conclusions based on solutions, and defining business practices. Suggest new approaches and showcase collaborative and supportive workability. 

How long does it take to become an AI Engineer?

The time generally takes to become an AI Engineer depends on several factors, and the shortest time you would take is around 6 -8 months, based on your pace of learning and understanding the concepts. Normally, to become an AI Engineer professional, I would require a bachelor’s degree in the field of AI, and that may take up to 4 or 5 years, depending on your course. There are certain certification courses also available in which you can enroll and become an AI Engineer in a short time, but in the end, you will need skills and expertise that demand time and experience.

How do I start a career in AI?

When it comes to stimulating human intelligence, then, AI Engineers play a vital role by building and managing AI models in the systems. If you are attracted to the AI field, then you can easily jump and start a career in it and make sure that you are really passionate about AI because it is a very technical role. Give a kick start by understanding the roadmap below and follow it to become a successful AI engineer. 

Get the Required Knowledge: You must consider gaining knowledge from a technical education background. An AI Engineer role typically requires a bachelor’s degree in AI or a computer-related field. Besides academic education, you must be proficient in programming languages and applied mathematics. Get the degree or technical knowledge from a valid institution and foundational knowledge. 

Hands-on experience: Get experience by applying for internships in relevant fields to become an AI engineer. You can make real-world-based projects and systems to gain more experience with tools and technology.

Develop Technical Skills: After gaining theoretical knowledge, develop and share your technical skills and become proficient in AI models and NLP.

Consider Online Courses and Bootcamps: Don’t stop learning. Take short-term online courses and boot camps that can help you jump-start your AI career. 

Build Your AI Portfolio: Your Portfolio is what describes more about your AI Engineering skills; hence, you must build a strong portfolio to showcase your interests, professional growth, and achievements.

Grow your Professional Network and guidance: It will be beneficial for you to grow your professional network in the industry with others, and this will help you get valuable insights, advice, career growth possibilities, and, most importantly, guidance from mentors, experts, and other experienced individuals.

Get ready to become an AI Engineer:  At last, you must apply for internships and job opportunities for AI Engineering roles. Prepare yourself and crack interviews. 

Roles and Responsibilities of an AI Engineer

To become an AI Engineer, you must have knowledge of the roles and responsibilities of an AI Engineer. Reading down below helps you understand what are their roles and responsibilities that you have if you become an AI Engineer. 

What are the roles of an AI Engineer?

AI engineers play major roles in developing, programming, and training complex networks of algorithms so that they can multitask and automate them just like a human brain. They need to be experts in the fields of software development, data science, and engineering. Playing with the high amount of data, from uncovering to pulling it from multiple sources, and creating, developing, and testing machine learning models on that so that an AI application can be built using embedded codes and APIs. 

What are the responsibilities of an AI Engineer?

When it comes to knowing the responsibilities, they specifically build AI models using ML(machine learning) algorithms and DLNN (deep learning neural networks) to extract business insights so that they can be used to grow and develop future business goals. Below are some responsibilities given.

• Building AI models from the ground up, performing statistical analysis, and interpreting the findings to help the company understand what outcomes the model yields.
• Creating AI product development and managing data transformation and ingestion infrastructures.
• Automate, train systems, and develop ML apps as needed.
• Transform ML models, not APIs. Coordinate tasks with other teams and collaborate with them to share information. 

Average Salary packages of AI Engineer

Talking about the average salary package of AI Engineer, it may vary depending on the cities and various factors. The variation in salary among companies can be severe where start-ups can give you equity or stock options, top salaries, and big firms or tech giants offer packages to attract the best talent among the crowd. Typically, an AI Engineer earns $100k to $200k annually in top-rated companies on an average basis. If you are looking for an entry-level salary for an AI Engineer, then based on the research data, it ranges somewhere between $30k and more. It is also essential to know about the factors that influence an AL Engineer’s pay, which are stated below.

Factors affecting the salary of an AI Engineer

Below are several factors that may influence your salary as an AI Engineer, so it would be necessary to have knowledge before considering the future scope and career growth. 

• Experience and Expertise: It is one of the most crucial things that has a major impact on any other industry. More experience and specialized skills attract higher salary opportunities. 
• Location: Where you are located is also a great factor for salary. If you see the salary graph of Metropolitan cities, which have many tech companies, offer higher average salaries than the companies in another urban or sub-urban region. 
• Target Industry: You are going to see which “Sectors” also have an influence on salaries. For example, if you go to industries that are reliant on AI technologies, such as IT, finance, and e-commerce, tend to pay AI Engineers more than others.
• Education and Certifications: Your salary will be significantly affected if you have a higher degree in computer science or related fields and certifications in specific AI technologies or tools. 
• Company Size and Reputation: Choosing large multinational corporations rather than other small startups may offer higher salaries and benefits. Working with small startups is great for a better portfolio and experience, but you may get less pay. 

What is the qualification for AI Engineering?

An AI Engineer must be proficient in the field of AI and Data Science, so they must have to show their qualifications in that. You must be qualified for an AI Engineer role, and that would demand a few things from you. 

• A Bachelor’s degree in a related field of AI, Computer Science, Data Science, IT, and Statistics. 
• Additionally, a master’s degree in related fields such as computer science or IT, data science, mathematics, or cognitive science would be helpful.
• If you have enrolled in any certification course or program relevant to AI, then it would be a cherry on top for you. 

Scope for an AI Engineer: Potential Career Growth

In the field of AI engineering, one can seek several potential growth opportunities in one career. If you want to become an AI Engineer, then you will have diversified pathways for career advancement that include: 

• Specialization in AI Domains: Specialising in designing and developing algorithms and models that focus on ML & NLP. Design and create Robotic systems that perform autonomous and semi-autonomous tasks and enable machines to interpret and understand the real world visually.
• Leadership and managerial Roles: You may work as an AI Project Manager, Head of AI, and chief AI Officer and oversee projects, build strategies, and conduct R&D to integrate AI capabilities in the organization to enhance quality and productivity. 
• Research and Development: Become a Data and AI Research Scientist and conduct data and statistical analysis to gain insights that will be used in the development of AI models. Conducting AI research and innovative applications contributes to academic knowledge of AI technology. 
• Consultancy and Advisory Services: As an AI consultant, I advise businesses on the ethical implementation of AI and optimize strategies to help them drive values and usages.