Building your career in the AI era (in three steps)

This article is the translation of my last piece on Econopoly, the blog of the Italian main business publication (Il Sole 24 Ore). For Italian speakers, you can read it here.

Specialists in Artificial Intelligence are the?fastest growing profession?in the United States.?Over the past four years, the demand for these figures has increased by an average of 74% per year. This means that for every 100 open positions in 2016, there are now 900 (the wonders of exponential growth…). The numbers may be staggering, but the phenomenon is certainly nothing new. 9 years ago?Harvard called Data Scientists?“the sexiest job of the 21st century”.

What does this trend mean for non-technical figures? Do we all have to learn to program and develop algorithms to ride the wave?

The answer is, of course, no.?Let's look into how companies need to adapt to use AI, and what it will mean for all professionals.

Let's start by asking?why companies are investing in AI today. In most cases, companies don't hire AI specialists to do pure research. They do this because?they expect AI to deliver business results.

Once this concept is clear, it is evident that a team of AI experts cannot work alone to bring these results. Bringing real business value to a company requires bridges between the AI team and the business.

And it is precisely in the creation of these bridges that new career opportunities will be created.

The first opportunity?is in new professions that can integrate AI into business. These new professionals have both a strong business background and an operational knowledge of AI. These are?the figures that McKinsey?in 2018 called "Data Translator". The term does not seem to have caught on (some people call them "AI evangelists", others "AI product managers"), but the need is clear and the need is evident.

The second opportunity?is to evolve your profession to work with AI. Consider a UX designer who has to design the user experience of a product that uses artificial intelligence. It is impossible for this professional to design an effective experience without understanding how data is collected and how algorithms can impact the user experience. An example of this phenomenon is TikTok. TikTok's entire user experience is designed to collect data. You can bet that TikTok's UX designers have a solid understanding of AI, and collaborate tightly with their AI experts.

This reasoning can be extended to other figures. You can imagine marketers who need to understand how algorithms can impact advertising campaigns or project managers who need to understand AI processes to manage projects.

More than a revolution, we must look at these professions as an evolution.?By adding AI to your skillset, you can evolve into an advanced professional with new career opportunities.

This evolution can happen very quickly though. New opportunities can arise for those who seize the moment and leave others behind. As MIT professor Erik Brynjolfsson said, "Artificial Intelligence will not replace managers, but managers who use AI will replace managers who do not" (Harvard Business Review, 'The Business of Artificial Intelligence').

What should you do to make sure you’re part of the first group?

There are three steps to follow. The first?is to invest in your education to build an “operational knowledge of AI”. Data Translators, UX designers, or AI project managers don't need to know how to program or write mathematical formulas. What they all need is an operational understanding of AI. They need to know how to structure an AI project, how data influences algorithms, how to evaluate the business impact of AI. Everyone can learn these skills, without having to completely shift education (or nature).

The second step?is to expose yourself to the company's existing AI or analytics projects. By putting your knowledge into practice with real-world projects, you can start carving out your role in a transforming company.

The last step?is to be able to keep constantly updated. The world of AI is constantly evolving. The technology we take for granted today was unimaginable 2 years ago. At the same time, what seems unattainable today could become a commodity in the next 2 years. This means that new opportunities can continually arise for every company. What these companies need is professionals with the right skills and?mindset?to recognize them.