For example, let’s say you’re interested in working with artificial intelligence (AI), with an emphasis on machine learning. Why not? The market for AI skills is still relatively small, but those who master the core concepts can potentially earn handsome rewards and work on some really cool projects.
Even if you have the right skills, where do you start looking for a job? Many companies don’t bother advertising AI-related jobs because they often already have candidates for the role. Other AI experts are drawn directly from academia.
Fortunately, there are several companies that are hiring heavily for AI jobs. CompTIA recently ran an analysis through Burning Glass, a database of millions of job postings, to discover the top employers for AI job postings in August. Please take a look:
What does this tell us? Consulting, finance, healthcare, and technology companies are attracting large numbers of AI talent for a variety of reasons. Consulting firms will no doubt want to outsource these AI workers to their clients, and will almost certainly pay a significant premium. Meanwhile, finance, healthcare, and technology companies all have cutting-edge projects in dire need of AI talent. For example, Amazon has a number of AI initiatives underway, including making its Alexa digital assistant even smarter.
Meanwhile, financial companies like Microsoft, Dell, and Wells Fargo all need AI to help parse and mine huge databases for critical insights. A recent study of AI use cases found that many companies are using the technology in sales, CRM, chatbots, cybersecurity, marketing automation, and more that are important to small and large organizations alike.
“The pandemic has accelerated digital transformation and changed the way we work,” commented Khali Henderson, senior partner at Buzz Theory and vice chair of CompTIA’s emerging technology community, as part of the study. “We have learned, somewhat painfully, that traditional technology infrastructure does not provide the agility, scalability, and resiliency that we need today. Going forward, organizations will invest in technologies and services that power digital work, automation, and human-machine collaboration. Emerging technologies like AI and IoT will be a big part of that investment, which IDC puts at $656 billion globally this year.”
Of course, AI and machine learning jobs will become even more mainstream in the coming years. According to Burning Glass, jobs that heavily involve machine learning are expected to grow by 76.3% over the next 10 years. Over 220,000 job postings meaningfully mentioned “machine learning” in the past 12 months, a significant number for a “niche” technology. If you’re interested in AI, wait. Chances are sure to increase.
