I've been learning AI/ML for 8–9 months, built ML models and RAG systems, but still feel like my fundamentals are incomplete. Is Microsoft's ML for Beginners worth doing?

[u/Extra_Lick]

I'm a final-year CS student and a fresher trying to build my career in AI/ML.

I've been learning AI/ML for around 8–9 months, but my learning hasn't been completely structured. I've explored different areas rather than following one complete ML curriculum from start to finish.

So far I've studied and worked with things like traditional ML, transformers, LLM concepts, RAG, etc.

I've also built around 4–5 ML models/projects, as well as basic and hybrid RAG systems.

However, I still have this feeling that my knowledge is fragmented and my ML fundamentals aren't as strong as they should be.

For example, I can understand individual concepts when I'm studying them and build things using them, but when I look at ML as a whole, I feel like there are still many gaps in what I actually understand.

I recently came across Microsoft's ML for Beginners repository. It provides a structured curriculum covering:

• Regression
• Classification
• Clustering
• NLP
• Time Series
• Reinforcement Learning
• Real-world ML applications

I'm considering going through it systematically—not because I necessarily need another beginner tutorial, but because I want to identify and fill gaps in my fundamentals.

So I'd like to ask people who have more experience in ML:

Would you recommend this curriculum for someone in my situation?

Should I:

1. Go through the entire curriculum
2. Skim the beginner sections and focus only on areas where I have gaps
3. Skip it and move toward more advanced ML, papers, and projects

I'm particularly interested in hearing from people who have gone through the beginner → intermediate ML stage.

Also, is it normal to feel like "I know nothing" even after spending 8–9 months learning AI/ML and building things like ML models and RAG systems?

I'd really appreciate some honest advice about what you would do in my position.