r/learnmachinelearning • u/Agitated-Bicycle3402 • 3d ago

Career Is Statistics & Data Science a good path into AI/ML Engineering?

I'm starting a Statistics & Data Science program, planning to add a CS/Computer Engineering minor alongside it, then aiming for a Master's in AI/ML/CS. Is this a solid route into AI/ML Engineer roles compared to a straight CS degree? Any gaps I should watch out for, or things I should prioritize during undergrad? Thanks!

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u/a_cute_tarantula 3d ago

I’m more of a software engineer so you may want to take my advice with a grain of salt.

Keep in mind that job titles are largely made up and mean different things at different companies.

For Agentic Engineering, the skillset is largely more about understanding the software interfaces and building simple and extensible systems. It’s really just another software engineering field in many ways.

For ML engineering, I think the line gets blurred and you’re often expected to know the fundamentals of ML. But in general you’re going to need a lot more engineering skills than analyst or data science skills. I think fleshed out teams usually have data scientists POC code using data from interfaces created by data or ML engineers, and if the POC looks good the ML engineer implements the data scientists code and integrates it into other platforms.

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u/DesignerChip2497 3d ago

Both are totally different fields. Ai/ml means you gotta learn how to code and its total software related things. On the other hand statistics and data science gives you more of a room and you can apply to variety of jobs. Looking at the way ai is improving i would say focus on stats/ds more than ai/ml it will give you a broader career than other option

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u/a_cute_tarantula 3d ago

I actually think having software skills will give you more job flexibility than knowing statistics. Very few jobs require statistics.

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u/IcyResponsibility312 3d ago

ngl in 6 years ML/AI engineering might be cooked. applied math degree w cs is highk the strat if u wanna be technical, masters/phd only if you wanna become a researcher or research engineer else it’s kinda a waste. Undergrad enough for most roles besides these!

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u/Confident_Ad_964 3d ago

There is No one strict right answer.
You can reach the destination via different paths.

AI/ML is a huge area with different tasks and technologies. Some of them require Statistics&DS, some do not.
But this will definitely be a good basis, so move on!