AI Proof your SDE career
AI is expected to wipe of 51% of the SDE jobs and this means the competition for such jobs is only going to get more intense each year. This also means it wil be harder to land such jobs going forward as well. In this situation, the biggest question is how to AI proof yourself to avoid this situation. I was in a quandary and thinking on the same topic. So, I decided to create a series on this and today I’ll be covering the first career : Software Development.
You would think that software development might be the least affected. However, SDE is actually the most affected job due to AI. This is because they are the most expensive and the AI models are already learning fast. We have cursor AI and lovable AI literally generating code in minutes which can be productionized quickly. In such cases, how can someone who is looking for a job stand out amongst millions looking for the same coveted spot. Also, how can someone who is already in a job level up so that they can not just survive but thrive. For the same, I created three things
Projects you can pursue
Resources and certifications you can pursue for free to learn AI
6 month roadmap
Aspiring software developers looking for a job
For those looking for a job, regardless of your status currently as a student, intern or just graduated, you need to have 2-3 AI projects in your resume.
AI projects to develop and put in your resume :
This is an extensive github resource to use which includes projects and their specialization : Link
Few projects you can use from them which will provide you with highest impact
Core ML Projects : Link
100+ ML projects : Link
70+ Awesome AI Projects : Link
Its necessary to have atleast 2-3 projects on your resume. In a situation where everything is competitive, these AI projects could be the difference between you getting the interview or the job vs not.
Top FREE AI Certifications :
Here are some of the top AI certifications or ways to learn AI . I have only included FREE courses to ensure you don’t have to spend money :
Andrew NG : "AI for Everyone" & "Gen AI for everyone". The course is free but you need to pay $59 to takes tests and get certificate.
Introduction to AI with Python by Harvard : Link. Again, course is for free. Certificate is paid but optional.
University of Helsinki Free AI course : Link
Google AI course : Link
IBM : Link
OHSC : Link
Codecademy : Link
Increase Visibility :
Once you have created these projects or done an internship or were a part of college group or just graduated, make sure you post about it on LinkedIn, Medium, Substack etc. You want to catch people’s eye, want them to connect with you. When you do that, you are increasing your chances of getting an interview callback, increasing your networking and more importantly sharing your information and knowledge on AI which will bring your more opportunities.
Software Developers already in a job :
Building AI projects for team you work in :
I know this is easier said than done. But even creating a prototype of projects that shows potential and can be productionized will go a long way. For instance. I built a chatbot which could automate tickets for merchant escalations and while it was yet to be productionized, it still got me a promotion.
Point being, potential matters a lot. Sharing some projects which you can use and potentially implement ay your job : Link
180 ML projects : Link. You can use these ideas to create your project.
Increasing Visibility:
Now, to increase your visibility, ensure you share these projects in your knowledge sharing sessions or whereever applicable. Present these to your directors or skip level managers. This will not only help you get sponsorship to get it productionized but also get a promotion ultimately helping you stay ahead of the AI curve.
Finally, sharing a 6 month roadmap which you can follow. I am also working on this.
If you have not worked with AI , then this roadmap will help you learn from scratch as well as prep you for AI projects.
Links Below
Elements of AI – Intro to AI
“What is Artificial Intelligence?” – IBM “A 16-Minute Read on the History of AI” – Medium
CS50’s Intro to AI with Python (focus on search & knowledge)
“AI vs Machine Learning vs Deep Learning” – GeeksforGeeks
“A Visual Introduction to Deep Learning” – Rochelle Terman
“ML Glossary” – Google “Bias vs Variance” – ML Mastery
DeepLearning.AI’s NLP with Transformers (Auditing on Coursera)
“Introduction to Transformers” – Hugging Face Blog
“Top 10 Trends in AI” – MIT Tech Review “Ethics in AI” – AI Now Institute