Source:-https://insights.dice.com

The use of artificial intelligence (A.I.) and machine learning (ML), technologies that help people and organizations handle customer personalization and communication, data analytics and processing, and a host of other applications continues to grow.

An IDC report found three-quarters of commercial enterprise applications could lean on A.I. by next year alone, while an Analytics Insight report projects more than 20 million available jobs in artificial intelligence by 2023.

Due to A.I. and ML’s transformational reach, specialists with the right skills could find themselves with job opportunities across a wide range of industries. A global skills gap in the technologies means qualified applicants can expect good salaries and a strong bargaining position.

Gus Walker, director of product at Veritone, an A.I. tech company based in Costa Mesa, California, told Dice that, in 2021, there will be growing opportunities for A.I. and ML specialists in public safety, banking and fintech, and healthcare.

“These three industries have the money to invest in A.I. and ML right now and have the greatest opportunity to see the investment pay off, fast,” he said. “That being said, the pandemic has caused industries hit the hardest to take a step back and look at how they can leverage AI and ML to rebuild or adjust in the new normal.”

Data collection and preparation, as well as data analytics expertise, could end up the most in-demand skills when hiring for artificial intelligence. “Organizations need to hire individuals who can identify the correct training data and annotate the data accurately,” Walker added. “They need talent that can maintain growing training sets and analyze the data to create targeted datasets for customized model generation.”

This means companies will require professionals familiar with algorithm tuning and training; prime candidates will also have experience in A.I. operationalization and DevOps, in order to successfully set up datasets and continuous integration and continuous deployment pipelines so that algorithms stay up-to-date.

“Digitalization will make even more structured and unstructured data available to be leveraged, which will increase the need for more A.I. professionals,” Walker pointed out. “Businesses need someone who can maintain production deployments throughout.”

Here’s a breakdown from Burning Glass, which collects and analyzes millions of job postings from across the country, of how many technology jobs request machine learning skills. Although the current numbers are relatively small (at least when it comes to job postings), Burning Glass predicts significant growth over the next decade: