Career pathways & Certifications in Data & AI
By: Mahalakshmi Subramanian
Tags: Career Development, Women In Ai, India, Women In Tech, Data Science

The evolution of the fourth industrial revolution fueled by breakthroughs in smart and emerging technologies has been exponential. We are witnessing the widespread impact in the fields of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, IoT, etc. Besides, according to a recent McKinsey Global Institute report, Artificial Intelligence is expected to contribute an additional 1.2% to annual GDP growth by 2030. Consequently, the global economic market is poised to witness a multi-fold increase in demand for data and AI skills. At the heart of it all, the power lies in harnessing data insights aided by intelligent systems.

In line with this, Women in AI(India chapter) hosted a career webinar on November 27th,2020 on the topic “Career Pathways and Certifications in Data & AI”. The webinar was to provide aspirants with different backgrounds and career goals a clear idea about the different certification pathways. Vikas Rajput, Business Program Manager at Microsoft Australia, and Azure Technical Trainer presented this webinar.

Below is a summary of the webinar along with valuable resources to reskill/upskill in the field of Data and AI.

Vikas neatly laid down the different learning paths across the wide spectrum of Data Engineering, Automation, and Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning. He also addressed Why, What, How, and When of different Microsoft Azure certificates.

Vikas talked about the Azure Data Engineer (DP-200, DP-201) learning path to leverage the data platform technologies as business solutions. The Azure Data Administrator (DP-300) serves as the learning path for Data Management, performance tuning, and automation. The Azure Data Analyst (DA-100) is specific for individuals wanting to clarify and simplify data. The Azure Data Scientist (DP-100) covers machine learning model experimentation, training, and optimization. Individuals interested in building cognitive services and bots should explore the Azure AI Engineer (AI-100).

The ecosystem of Data Economy

Source: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1grn4nHg9oLwYwyV7d-JWHoWJdahLDLcz/view?usp=sharing

Azure Fundamentals certificate is a pre-requisite for the above-mentioned certificates. Vikas was happy to share the Microsoft Azure Virtual Training details. One can earn free vouchers to attend the Azure Fundamental certification at no cost by attending one of the virtual trainings. All the learning paths, syllabi, and additional information can be found at Microsoft Learn.

Vikas added value by mentioning the persona reflected in each role in addition to specifying the roles and responsibilities. I believe this helps an individual to play to their strengths and have intrinsic motivation. He also strongly encouraged individuals to have hands-on practice using the resources at Azure portal and GitHub open repositories. He closed the webinar emphasizing continuous learning and growth mindset to be the drivers of certifications in a rapidly evolving tech world. You can watch the recording of the webinar on YouTube here and access the presentation slides here.

I hope this blog post along with the shared resources will be useful for the aspirants. In these times of uncertainty fueled by the pandemic, I also hope this webinar rejuvenates your interests and helps in identifying your desired path.

I heartily thank my co-volunteers Divya Maria Sunil, Saptaparni Neogi and, WAI Ambassador, India, Namrata Mukhija for their efforts and support. Please stay in tune for future events and updates by following Women in AI APAC on LinkedIn and becoming a member of Women in AI. We are actively looking for volunteers and sponsor organizations for our future events. If interested, kindly reach out to Namrata Mukhija, WAI Ambassador, India, at namrata@womeninai.co.

On behalf of the WAI India team, I wish everyone a happy & safe holiday!

About the Speaker

Vikas is a Business Program Manager at Microsoft Australia. Over the years, Vikas has played varied Data/BI/AI roles like Principal Consultant, Principal Engineer, Data Engineer, Specialist and Architect. In his current role of Azure Technical Trainer — he enjoys the healthy mix of Technology, Mentoring and Public Speaking, and is focused on Data/AI, Automation and Architecture tracks. Beyond work, Vikas enjoys reading, learning more about cultures and communities around us, cooking and long walks.