How to Become a Certified AI Professional?

Artificial intelligence is a powerful catalyst of change that has been responsible for major transformations across different sectors. It helps in creating machines that can simulate human intelligence and learn from their experiences to adapt to new inputs. Therefore, you can seek opportunities to become a certified AI professional and pursue a career in an emerging domain of technology.

Artificial intelligence has become a promising tool for simplification and enhancement of business tasks, such as image processing, business process management, or speech recognition. On top of that, AI also supports the foundations for many innovative advancements, such as self-driving cars, AI chatbots, and natural language tools. Therefore, it is reasonable to believe that AI professionals would be the most in-demand assets for companies worldwide. Let us find out how you can qualify for an AI certification and become a certified AI expert.

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Why Should You Pursue a Career in AI?

Before you look for an ideal AI certification, it is important to know why you should pursue a career in AI. The AI professional roadmap is definitely a challenging one with the requirement of different types of skills and practical experience. What is the best reason to invest efforts in learning the skills required for AI jobs?

The World Economic Forum has reported that AI might replace more than 80 million jobs by 2025. On the other hand, it would also create over 95 million new jobs by 2027. Furthermore, the number of jobs that would require AI or machine learning skills would grow by almost 71% between 2021 and 2025. 

The most promising reason to pursue a certified AI professional career path is the continuous growth of AI. Have you ever imagined how AI has become an essential part of our lives? Artificial intelligence has spread its roots in different sectors, such as healthcare, automotive, and finance, thereby fuelling the demand for AI professionals. As a matter of fact, the number of AI-related job listings across different industries in the US in 2023 was almost 50,000.

Some of the top companies that hire AI professionals include Google, Facebook, Uber, Apple, Netflix, Microsoft, LinkedIn, OpenAI, Bloomberg, Salesforce and NVIDIA. Certified AI professionals can pursue rewarding career paths with the big companies of their choice. On top of it, pursuing a career in AI would also offer different opportunities for continuous professional development through learning new skills.

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How Much Can You Earn as a Certified AI Professional?

As a certified AI professional, you can explore the chances of working in different job roles. You can find different AI professional salary estimates according to your job role and the skills required for the job. On top of that, the salary for AI professionals is one of the reasons why you should invest efforts in preparing for AI certifications. Here is an outline of different prominent jobs for certified AI professionals and the average annual salary for each role.

• AI Product Manager- $110,000 to $180,000
• AI Software Developer- $90,000 to $150,000
• AI Ethics Consultant- $80,000 to $130,000
• Machine Learning Engineer- $110,000 to $150,000
• AI Business Analyst- $85,000 to $130,000
• AI Scientist- $90,000 to $130,000

You can notice that AI product managers offer the highest salaries among all AI jobs. The salary estimates provide a convincing answer to queries like “Is a certificate in AI worth it?” as AI jobs offer higher salaries than the industry average. On top of it, the salary of certified AI professionals would also increase according to their experience and skill development.

What is the Value of AI Certifications?

The motivation to build your career in AI may come from anywhere. You may take inspiration from the thousands of professionals who have achieved professional certification in AI and built rewarding careers. On the other hand, you might have the curiosity to find out how a career in AI would work out for you. 

Interestingly, you can develop certified AI professional skills with the help of certification of your choice to achieve promising results in developing your career in technology. AI certifications prove the skills and knowledge of a professional in AI technologies. On top of it, AI certifications also help you show your expertise in AI to potential employers.

AI certifications are not only proof of your skills and knowledge in different AI concepts, technologies, and applications. The certifications can also help professionals stay updated with new AI methodologies, innovative developments, and new trends. Most importantly, AI certifications can open avenues for finding your place in the higher salary brackets. Furthermore, a certified AI professional is more likely to grow towards leadership roles at a faster pace.

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What are the Essential Skills Required to Pursue AI Certifications?

The benefits of AI certifications create curiosity regarding the prerequisites to pursue them. First of all, you might have doubts about how to become a certified AI professional from scratch. You can find the answers to your apprehensions in the technical and non-technical skills required to learn AI. Here is an outline of the technical skills you would need to pursue AI certifications.

Numeracy skills are a must-have for anyone who wants to learn AI and pursue professional certifications. You must have in-depth knowledge of the fundamentals of statistics, algebra, or calculus to work with AI algorithms. Your understanding of probability can also offer valuable support in understanding the common machine learning models.     

Candidates interested in an AI professional roadmap must also have a better understanding of applied mathematics that can help them develop, modify, and use AI models.

The next important technical skill that you would need to pursue an AI certification is fluency in popular programming languages. You must have a strong command over programming languages, such as Java, Python, R, and C++, for developing and deploying AI models.

Another essential technical skill required for AI certifications is natural language processing. You must understand how NLP combines information engineering, linguistics, AI, and computer science into one system. 

Apart from the technical skills, you must have non-technical business skills that can help you prepare for actual AI jobs. The list of certified AI professional skills in the non-technical category revolves around your business acumen and soft skills. You must have the ability to work in a collaborative environment and communicate clearly with all important stakeholders. On top of that, you must also have the ability to think critically, creatively, and analytically.

How Should You Choose an AI Certification?

The choice of an AI certification can have a huge impact on your chances of becoming a certified AI expert. You can find the most effective path for your career development as an AI professional with the right certification. Here is an overview of the important factors that can help you pick the ideal AI certification right away.

• Understand the Type of Certification 

One of the first things that you need before embarking on a certified AI professional career path is an understanding of different types of AI certifications. It is important to understand that you can find diverse AI certifications in the world that can cater to different career paths and expertise levels.

You can find foundational certifications, specialized certifications, or industry-specific certifications. On top of it, there are some certifications that provide the advantages of all these types of certifications. 

Foundational certifications are ideal for beginners, while specialized certifications emphasize domains such as machine learning, robotics, deep learning, and natural language processing. Industry-specific certifications are designed to help you understand the best ways to implement AI in healthcare, cybersecurity, finance, and many other industries.

• Make Sure the Certification Fits Your Goals

The best recommendation to choose an AI certification for your career revolves around your career goals and level of expertise. Once you find the answers to “Is a certificate in AI worth it?” you must look for your current set of skills. On top of it, you must also prepare an outline of your career aspirations. These factors can help you choose an AI certification that helps you move towards the desired goals.

• Practical Evaluation of AI Certifications

The ideal approach to determine whether an AI certification is the right fit for you involves practical evaluation of the certifications. You should evaluate the feasibility of AI certifications in terms of money and time. For example, some certifications may offer flexible schedules that can help you complete the certification with convenience. On the other hand, you may also have to think of the financial investment, as it may require an upfront cost to prove your AI expertise.

• Recognition for the Certification 

Another important aspect that matters the most when choosing an AI certification is recognition. You can claim a lucrative AI professional salary only when you have a certification that is recognized by companies and industry professionals. In addition, you can look for certification programs that have been accredited by recognized authorities. Certifications that have the endorsement of top firms in AI can help you with promising advantages for career development.

• Look for Certifications with Practical Training

You must also pay attention to the need for practical training in AI certifications before investing your efforts in them. Certifications with hands-on projects and real-world exercises are important for learning AI concepts and processes. For example, a certification that helps you learn how to build AI models through practical exercises would guarantee professional success for you.

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How Can You Qualify for an AI Certification?

Choosing the right certification completes half of the job of preparing for a career in AI. However, you must follow certain best practices that can help you become a certified AI professional and capitalize on the benefits of your career. Here are the important steps that can help you qualify for an AI certification of your choice.

• Understand the Content and Learning Objectives

The best way to approach any AI certification is to understand the content and its learning objectives. You should understand the different modules and topics covered in the certification course to begin your preparations. The certification course content and learning objectives help you create a specific set of goals that you must achieve to qualify for the certification. 

• Prepare a Study Plan 

The next important requirement to prepare for a certified AI professional career path involves creating a study plan. You can create a study plan to follow an organized approach to learning all the important topics in the certification course. On top of that, a study plan would offer the advantage of allocating the ideal time required to cover the course topics. The study plan helps you distribute your preparation efforts according to the difficulty of each module. Most important of all, it gives you an effective tool to maintain accountability for your preparations.

• Utilize the Benefits of Community 

The preparation for an AI certification should never be a standalone effort. On the other hand, participation in community can help you access a diverse range of resources and insights into AI. Interaction with community members can help you move forward on an AI professional roadmap with access to different training resources. Most importantly, the community can also play a vital role in expanding the scope of your professional development efforts.

• Consistent Practice

The secret ingredient to achieving success in an AI certification is consistency in practice. You must try everything to practice the skills you learn from a certification course. The advantage of practice not only improves your skills but also gives you an opportunity to build your confidence. Practice helps you improve the ease with which you can implement the concepts you learn about AI in different types of settings. 

Final Words

The review of the essential pointers that you need to build certified AI professional skills shows that you can explore different avenues for success as an AI professional. However, it is important to understand that choosing the right certification has a major impact on your AI career. The opportunity to pursue highly rewarding careers in artificial intelligence might encourage everyone. On the contrary, it is important to identify the right career path in artificial intelligence that can help you build a highly rewarding future. Discover the best career opportunities for you in artificial intelligence with the ideal certifications now.