What skills do you need to work in machine learning?

Introduction

Working in machine learning calls for a particular set of skills. In this article we go through the core competencies you need to build a career in the field.

Programming and algorithms

Learning a programming language is the first and unavoidable step. Python is the most popular language here, thanks to how simple and readable it is. Knowing your algorithms and data structures is equally fundamental.

Understanding the maths

You need a grasp of mathematical concepts such as statistics, linear algebra and calculus. That knowledge is what lets you design and optimise machine learning algorithms.

Machine learning and neural networks

A solid understanding of machine learning principles and methods — supervised and unsupervised learning among them — is essential. Knowing the various models and neural network architectures is a valuable asset too.

Working with data

Training a model takes data. Handling large volumes of it, cleaning it, processing it and analysing it are all key skills in this field.

Building and optimising models

Once a model exists, it has to be optimised to perform well. Knowing the optimisation methods and how to tune a model's parameters is what gets you the best results.

In closing

The skills above are the foundation you build a machine learning career on. With them you can tackle demanding problems in data analysis and algorithm design. Bear in mind that each of them takes time and practice, so keep learning and keep growing in this fast-moving field.