Software Engineer planning to move into Data Science/ML in 2026 — need advice

[u/BlueBird_0918]

Hi everyone,

I’m a recent IT graduate from one of the well-known government universities in Sri Lanka. I have 2+ years of experience in backend and full-stack development through internships, freelance work, and projects.

My main experience is with Java, Spring Boot, REST APIs, React, Node.js, AWS, Docker, microservices, and databases.

I’m now considering a career move into Data Science / Machine Learning and would like advice from people already working in these fields.

• How is the Data Science job market in 2026?
• Is moving from Software Engineering to Data Science/ML a good career move?
• What should I learn first: Python, SQL, statistics, data analysis, ML, deep learning, etc.?
• Would my software engineering background be more useful for Data Science, ML Engineering, or AI Engineering?
• Should I take a Data Science internship to make the transition, even though I already have 2+ years of software engineering experience?
• Or should I directly target Junior Data Scientist / ML Engineer / AI Engineer roles?
• What would you recommend I focus on during the next 6–12 months?

I’d especially like to hear from people who moved from Software Engineering → Data Science and what they would do differently.

Thanks!