The article details the journey of Shubham Saboo, a software engineer who successfully transitioned to a machine learning engineer role at Amazon. Saboo’s story highlights the growing demand for ML engineers and the strategic career pivot in tech. He emphasizes the importance of practical experience over theoretical knowledge, recommending hands-on projects and real-world applications. The transition took him about 8-9 months of dedicated learning, focusing on essential ML concepts, Python programming, and deep learning frameworks. Saboo suggests starting with basic ML concepts before diving into complex algorithms, and emphasizes the value of building projects that solve actual problems. He credits online courses, particularly Andrew Ng’s machine learning course, and practical implementation of concepts as crucial to his success. The article also discusses the salary benefits of transitioning to ML engineering, with average salaries ranging significantly higher than traditional software engineering roles. Key advice includes maintaining a strong foundation in software engineering principles while building ML expertise, networking with professionals in the field, and creating a portfolio of practical ML projects. The piece concludes by highlighting the growing opportunities in ML engineering across various industries and the importance of continuous learning in this rapidly evolving field.
Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/machine-learning-engineer-amazon-career-change-software-2025-9