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AI Engineer Roadmap for Beginners

Following is the roadmap to learning AI Engineer (also known as ML Engineer) skills for a total
beginner. It includes FREE learning resources for technical skills (or tool skills) and soft (or core) skills

Prerequisites: You must have skills or interests to build skills in Coding and Math. Without these two
you cannot become an AI engineer.

Total Duration: 8 Months (4 hours of study Every Day)

Also, AI Engineer = Data Scientist + Software Engineer

Week 0: Do Proper Research and protect yourself from SCAMS.

Unfortunately, a lot of systematic scams are happening in ed tech, especially in the

data field where aspirants are provided with false promises like a 100% job guarantee or
trapped into “Masterclasses” which are nothing but sales pitches to upsell their low-grade
courses at exorbitant prices. You need to do complete research about the market and
mentors before starting your journey. Providing you the links to a few posts that we have
made in this regard which will support your research.

Even though these posts are NOT sufficient, do your additional research.

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• https://bit.ly/4at9Jaw
• https://bit.ly/477IOOs
• https://bit.ly/3GPD7dp

Week 1 and 2: Computer Science Fundamentals 💻

• Topics
o Data representation: Bits and Bytes, Storing text and numbers, Binary number
system.
o Basics of computer networks, IP addresses, Internet routing protocol
o UDP, TCP, HTTP, and The World Wide Web
o Programming basics: variables, strings, and numbers, if condition, loops
o Algorithm basics
• Learning Resources
o Khan Academy course: https://bit.ly/42DUXtW
o In the above course, only follow the first 4 sections (1) Digital Information (2) The
Internet (3) Programming (4) Algorithms. Completing the remaining sections is
optional. Do it if you have time and interest.

Week 3 and 4: Beginners Python

• Topics
o Variables, Numbers, Strings
o Lists, Dictionaries, Sets, Tuples
o If condition, for loop
o Functions, Lambda Functions
o Modules (pip install)
o Read, Write files
o Exception handling
o Classes, Objects
• Learning Resources
o Track A (Free)
▪ Python Tutorials (Codebasics) on YouTube (first 16 videos)
- https://bit.ly/3X6CCC7
▪ Corey’s Python Tutorials: https://bit.ly/3uqUgaZ
▪ Codebasics python HINDI tutorials
- https://bit.ly/3vmXrgw

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o Track B (Affordable Fees)

▪ Python course: https://codebasics.io/courses/python-for-beginner-and-
intermediate-learners

• LinkedIn - Core Skill

☐ Create a professional-looking LinkedIn profile.
▪ Have a clear profile picture and banner image.
▪ Add tags such as: Open to work etc.

☐ Use this LinkedIn Checklist to create a profile: Click here.

• Assignment

☐ Track A: Finish all these exercises: https://bit.ly/3k1mof5

☐ Track B: Finish exercises and quizzes for relevant topics
☐ Create a professional-looking LinkedIn profile.

Week 5 and 6: Data Structures and Algorithms in Python

• Topics
o Data structures basics, Big O notation
o Data structures: Arrays, Linked List, Hash Table, Stack, Queue
o Data structures: Tree, Graph
o Algorithms: Binary search, Bubble sort, quick sort, merge sort
o Recursion

• Learning Resources
o DSA YouTube Playlist: https://bit.ly/3uiW2Lf

• Motivation
o How Kaggle helped this person become ML engineer: https://bit.ly/3RFVruy

• Assignment

☐ Finish all these exercises in this same playlist: https://bit.ly/3uiW2Lf

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Week 7, 8: Advance Python

• Topics
o Inheritance, Generators, Iterators
o List Comprehensions, Decorators
o Multithreading, Multiprocessing
• Learning Resources
o Python Tutorials (Codebasics) on YouTube (17th to 27th video)
- https://bit.ly/3X6CCC7
• Assignment

☐ Finish all these exercises in this same playlist: https://bit.ly/3X6CCC7

• Core/Soft Skills
o Linkedin
▪ Start following prominent AI influencers.
▪ Daliana Liu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalianaliu/
▪ Nitin Aggarwal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ntnaggarwal/
▪ Steve Nouri: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenouri/
▪ Dhaval Patel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhavalsays/

▪ Increase engagement.
▪ Start commenting meaningfully on AI and career-related posts.
▪ Helps network with others working in the industry build
connections.
▪ Learning and brainstorming opportunity.
▪ Remember online presence is a new form of resume
o Business Fundamentals - Soft Skill
▪ Learn business concepts from ThinkSchool and other YT Case Studies
▪ Example: How Amul beat competition: https://youtu.be/nnwqtZiYMxQ
o Discord
▪ Start asking questions and get help from the community. This post
shows how to ask questions the right way: https://bit.ly/3I70EbI
▪ Join codebasics discord server: https://discord.gg/r42Kbuk

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• Assignment

☐ Write meaningful comments on at least 10 AI related LinkedIn posts

☐ Note down your key learnings from 3 case studies on ThinkSchool and share
them with your friend.

Week 9: Version Control (Git, Github)

• Topics
o What is the version control system? What is Git and GitHub?
o Basic commands: add, commit, push.
o Branches, reverting change, HEAD, Diff and Merge
o Pull requests.

• Learning Resources
o YT playlist (codebasics): https://bit.ly/3SECQQ7
o YT playlist (Corey): https://bit.ly/3T0Yrmb

• Motivation
o Mechanical to Deep Learning Engineer: https://bit.ly/48lX9aR

• Core/Soft Skills
o Presentation skills
▪ Death by PowerPoint: https://youtu.be/Iwpi1Lm6dFo

Week 10, 11: SQL

• Topics
o Basics of relational databases.
o Basic Queries: SELECT, WHERE LIKE, DISTINCT, BETWEEN, GROUP BY, ORDER
BY
o Advanced Queries: CTE, Subqueries, Window Functions
o Joins: Left, Right, Inner, Full
o Database creation, indexes, stored procedures.

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• Learning Resources
o Track A
▪ Khan academy SQL course: https://bit.ly/3WFku20
▪ https://www.w3schools.com/sql/
▪ https://sqlbolt.com/
▪ YT video: https://youtu.be/Rm0xH2Vpfi0?si=6ZLK8A5LvGqN4NmT

o Track B
▪ SQL course for data professionals: https://codebasics.io/courses/sql-
beginner-to-advanced-for-data-professionals

• Assignment
☐ Participate in SQL resume project challenge on https://codebasics.io/
▪ Link: https://codebasics.io/challenge/codebasics-resume-project-
challenge/7
▪ These challenges help you improve technical skills, soft skills and
business understanding.
☐ Make a LinkedIn post with a submission of your resume project challenge
Sample post: https://bit.ly/48Bg5mB

Week 12: Numpy, Pandas, Data Visualization

• Tech Skills
o Numpy
▪ numpy YouTube playlist: https://bit.ly/3GTppa8
o Pandas, Matplotlib, Seaborn
▪ Go through chapter 3 in this course (entire chapter is free):
https://codebasics.io/courses/math-and-statistics-for-data-science

Week 13, 14, 15, 16: Math & Statistics for AI

• Math and Statistics for AI

o Topics to Learn
▪ Basics: Descriptive vs inferential statistics, continuous vs discrete data,
nominal vs ordinal data
▪ Linear Algebra: Vectors, Metrices, Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors
▪ Calculus: Basics of integral and differential calculus

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▪ Basic plots: Histograms, pie charts, bar charts, scatter plot etc.
▪ Measures of central tendency: mean, median, mode
▪ Measures of dispersion: variance, standard deviation
▪ Probability basics
▪ Distributions: Normal distribution
▪ Correlation and covariance
▪ Central limit theorem
▪ Hypothesis testing: p value, confidence interval, type 1 vs type 2 error,
Z test

o Learning Resources
▪ Track A (Free)
▪ Learn the above topics from this excellent Khan academy course
on statistics and probability.
▪ Course link: https://www.khanacademy.org/math/statistics-
probability
▪ While doing khan academy course, when you have doubts, use
statquest YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@statquest
▪ Use this free YouTube playlist: https://bit.ly/3QrSXis
▪ Another great youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@3blue1brown

▪ Track B (Affordable Fees)

▪ Learn the key concepts of Math and Statistics that lay the
foundations for a strong data science career:
https://codebasics.io/courses/math-and-statistics-for-data-
science

• Assignment
☐ Finish all exercises in this playlist: https://bit.ly/3QrSXis
☐ Finish all exercises in Khan academy course.
☐ Track B: Finish exercises and quizzes for relevant topics.

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Week 17: Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA)

• Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA)

o https://www.kaggle.com/code?searchQuery=exploratory+data+analysis
o Use the above link to search for exploratory data analysis notebooks.
o Practice EDA using at least 3 datasets.
▪ e.g. https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/rishabhkarn/ipl-auction-
2023/data

• Assignment
☐ Perform EDA (Exploratory data analysis on at least 2 additional datasets on
Kaggle)

Week 18, 19, 20, 21: Machine Learning

• Machine Learning: Preprocessing

o Handling NA values, outlier treatment, data normalization
o One hot encoding, label encoding
o Feature engineering
o Train test split
o Cross validation
• Machine Learning: Model Building
o Types of ML: Supervised, Unsupervised
o Supervised: Regression vs Classification
o Linear models
▪ Linear regression, logistic regression
▪ Gradient descent
o Nonlinear models (tree-based models)
▪ Decision tree
▪ Random forest
▪ XGBoost
o Model evaluation
▪ Regression: Mean Squared Error, Mean Absolute Error, MAPE
▪ Classification: Accuracy, Precision-Recall, F1 Score, ROC Curve,
Confusion matrix
o Hyperparameter tunning: GridSearchCV, RandomSearchCV

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o Unsupervised: K means, Hierarchical clustering, Dimensionality reduction
(PCA)

• Learning Resources
o Track A
▪ YouTube playlist (more than 2 million views): https://bit.ly/3io5qqX
▪ First 21 videos
▪ Feature engineering playlist: https://bit.ly/3IFa3Yf
o Track B (Affordable Fees)
▪ Master Machine Learning for Data Science & AI: This course takes you
from beginner to advanced levels, providing deep intuition on
algorithms, engaging cinematic experiences, end-to-end projects, and
hands-on coding practice: https://codebasics.io/courses/machine-
learning-for-data-science-beginners-to-advanced

• Core/Soft Skills
o Project Management
▪ Scrum: https://scrumtrainingseries.com/
▪ Kanban: https://youtu.be/jf0tlbt9lx0
▪ Tools: JIRA, Notion
• Assignment
☐ Complete all exercises in ML playlist: https://bit.ly/3io5qqX
☐ Work on 2 Kaggle ML notebooks
☐ Write 2 LinkedIn posts on whatever you have learnt in ML
☐ Discord: Help people with at least 10 answers
☐ Track B: Finish exercises and quizzes for relevant topics

Week 22: ML Ops ⚙️

• Topics
o What is API? FastAPI for Python server development
o DevOps Fundamentals: CI/CD pipelines, containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)
o Familiarity with at least one cloud platform (AWS, Azure etc.)
• Learning Resources
o Track A:
▪ FastAPI tutorial: https://bit.ly/497p6Ex
▪ Docker tutorial: https://bit.ly/3uCNpeE

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o Track B (Affordable Fees):
▪ Included in the above Master Machine Learning for Data Science & AI

Week 23, 24: Machine Learning Projects with Deployment

• You need to finish two end to end ML projects. One on Regression, the other on
Classification
• Regression Project: Bangalore property price prediction
o YouTube playlist link: https://bit.ly/3ivycWr
o Project covers following
▪ Data cleaning
▪ Feature engineering
▪ Model building and hyper parameter tuning
▪ Write flask server as a web backend
▪ Building website for price prediction
▪ Deployment to AWS
• Classification Project: Sports celebrity image classification
o YouTube playlist link: https://bit.ly/3ioaMSU
o Project covers following
▪ Data collection and data cleaning
▪ Feature engineering and model training
▪ Flask server as a web backend
▪ Building website and deployment
• ATS Resume Preparation
o Resumes are dying but not dead yet. Focus more on online presence.
o Here is the resume tips video along with some templates you can use for your
data analyst resume: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buQSI8NLOMw
o Use this checklist to ensure you have the right ATS Resume: Check here.

• Portfolio Building Resources:

You need a portfolio website in 2024. You can build your portfolio by using these free
resources.

• GitHub
o Upload your projects with code on github and using github.io create a
portfolio website
o Sample portfolio website: http://rajag0pal.github.io/

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• Linktree
o Helpful to add multiple links in one page.

• Assignment
o In above two projects make following changes
☐ Use FastAPI instead of flask. FastAPI tutorial: https://youtu.be/Wr1JjhTt1Xg
☐ Regression project: Instead of property prediction, take any other project
of your interest from Kaggle for regression
☐ Classification project: Instead of sports celebrity classification, take any
other project of your interest from Kaggle for classification and build end to
end solution along with deployment to AWS or Azure
☐ Add a link of your projects in your resume and LinkedIn.
(Tag Codebasics, Dhaval Patel and Hemanand Vadivel with the hashtag
#dsroadmap24 so we can engage to increase your visibility)

Week 25, 26, 27: Deep Learning

• Topics
o What is a neural network? Forward propagation, back propagation
o Building multilayer perceptron
o Special neural network architectures
▪ Convolutional neural network (CNN)
▪ Sequence models: RNN, LSTM

• Learning Resources
o Deep Learning playlist (tensorflow): https://bit.ly/3vOZ3zV
o Deep learning playlist (pytorch): https://bit.ly/3TzDbWp
o End to end potato disease classification project: https://bit.ly/3QzkVJi

• Assignment
☐ Instead of potato plant images use tomato plant images or some other image
classification dataset.
☐ Deploy to Azure instead of GCP.
☐ Create a presentation as if you are presenting to stakeholders and upload
video presentation on LinkedIn.

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Week 28, 29, 30: NLP or Computer Vision & GenAI 📃

• Many AI engineers choose a specialized track which is either NLP or Computer vision.
You don’t need to learn both.
• Natural Language Processing (NLP)
o Topics
▪ Regex
▪ Text presentation: Count vectorizer, TF-IDF, BOW, Word2Vec,
Embeddings
▪ Text classification: Naïve Bayes
▪ Fundamentals of Spacy & NLTP library
▪ One end to end project
o Learning Resources
▪ NLP YouTube playlist: https://bit.ly/3XnjfEZ

• Computer Vision (CV)

o Topics
▪ Basic image processing techniques: Filtering, Edge Detection, Image
Scaling, Rotation
▪ Library to use: OpenCV
▪ Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) – Already covered in deep
learning.
▪ Data preprocessing, augmentation – Already covered in deep learning.
• Assignment
☐ NLP Track: Complete exercises in this playlist: https://bit.ly/3XnjfEZ

Week 31, 32: LLM & Langchain 📃

• Topics
o What is LLM, Vector database, Embeddings?
o RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation)
o Langchain framework
• Learning Resources
o Langchain, LLM playlist: https://bit.ly/3RYpxuw

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Week 33 onwards….

• More projects
• Online brand building through LinkedIn, Kaggle, Discord, Opensource contribution

• Job application and Success

Tips of effective learning

• Spend less time in consuming information, more time in

o Digesting
o Implementing
o Sharing
• Group learning
o Use partner-and-group-finder channel on codebasics discord server for
group study and hold each other accountable for the progress of your study
plan. Here is the discord server link: https://discord.gg/r42Kbuk

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