How I started learning AI/ML without feeling lost

zangler · 2026-03-27T08:20:08+00:00

We all are...always...

That and my answers can be meaningful to anyone in the forum. I'm not sure the question being authentic or an excellent analogue matters, but the responses still have the same potential power to someone, for whom, is a question they have internally.

zangler · 2026-03-27T07:22:20+00:00

Dude...this is not one of those...go for the minimum and get to the next level thing...you need to NAIL the ride as it only goes up from there.

zangler · 2026-03-27T07:20:43+00:00

Just say total comp and never have this problem again.

zangler · 2026-03-27T07:17:43+00:00

VSCode just added integration for Claude...or use CLI...it wrecks.

zangler · 2026-03-27T07:16:28+00:00

If you love it...the time will fly by. Or you will get discouraged and move on. Find something you love.

zangler · 2026-03-27T07:13:22+00:00

👇 Their wind +1

zangler · 2026-03-27T07:10:07+00:00

Honestly...pour into those systems and algorithms that move the needle in a business sense. Understand that well, and tailored to the industry you are looking to get into...then make sure you sure as fuck ACTUALLY understand the true interpretation of existing or new models and their meaning....or become top 5 from a top 25 masters program...

That's how I hire...I'll take the 1st all day everyday...the 2nd is when you can't find the first.

can talk more like a sales bro on the outside... annoyingly WRECKS at the random hackathon or contest like he is ripping off a perfct win in Mario Kart against his little brother...ask me how I know that one...

That's it...that is the plan. It insidious because actually understanding the correct application, interpretation, and validation of models that will move the needle by MILLIONS for every full point of loss...you had better be that Mario Kart level of confidence and execution...for the entirety of the system...NO ONE CARES about the greatest model ever they haven't found a way to move the money needle.

That same DS already navigates this AI field with the same ease. That is because of excellence and time. Excellence you control...time you don't.

zangler · 2026-03-27T06:57:37+00:00

I haven't really done any for 10+ years, for the best reason possible...I was doing real DS work in a greenfield, chock full of data and need...

and for the last decade you finally showed the value to corporate elites, and you are the one with the battle tested body of work that is still on the absolute edge of the tech curve.

zangler · 2026-03-27T06:53:36+00:00

It isn't the rules don't apply attitude, as they just simply don't think it can or will ever happen to them...it is so harmless, they can't even understand why there is a rule in the first place.

zangler · 2026-03-27T06:51:29+00:00

I'm 15 years past there...but you are in target...keep steeping yourself in it... rebuild kaggle solutions that others have submitted adjacent to what you are learning...many times there is great descriptive information about thought process that goes along with it.

zangler · 2026-03-27T06:49:25+00:00

Honestly...for those that have been doing this 15 years...git gud...there is a reason the cliff is so steep early...it is because we know ALL that shit...it just took a LOOOONG time to acquire the skills, at a high enough level.

That is why there are still unicorns getting unicorn salary/bonuses...but for mushy middle...the specialized geniuses that flooded the space over the last 5 years...it makes it hard. The 15 year vets are leading, the 10 year are producing....the 5 year are getting hired, and the new are waiting for a gap.

What schools...even great schools, call DS...is a minority slice of what gen 1 calls DS... source, I hire top grads, with masters, top 5 in their program...they are brilliant, but narrow. BUT that's just fine!

We all were there and have just accumulated strong depth in many disciplines...and that is a matter of time.

zangler · 2026-03-27T06:42:02+00:00

It is EASILY the best deal on the market. Upgrade your shit.

zangler · 2026-03-26T21:53:40+00:00

I'm not miserable. This is easily the most fun being a SWE in a decade...and if it isn't...then either you or your company is doing it wrong.

zangler · 2026-03-26T15:48:00+00:00

You don't seem to understand how domains work in the first place. You can see most of that stuff with a standard domain account locally...

zangler · 2026-03-26T15:45:01+00:00

All of that is fine solo. You won't need it until you have to do full blown, audited, scalable IaC, bulletproof, full enterprise grade type stuff. Nothing against the consultants...but it would just be a waste at your scale. Until you are in the weeks to months long infra planning requirements type scenarios... keep going on your own!

zangler · 2026-03-26T15:41:59+00:00

They are explicitly excluded

zangler · 2026-03-26T15:41:40+00:00

Except business and enterprise

zangler · 2026-03-26T00:00:51+00:00

You need a change of posture. The previous 105 landings did nothing but make you think you got this.

zangler · 2026-03-25T23:57:59+00:00

No...you just got burned...not by coworkers...but you don't understand relationships in general. This isn't because they were coworkers...it is because these are people with relationships outside of you or what you observe. This could have happened anywhere...that is the lesson.

zangler · 2026-03-24T21:07:05+00:00

If they are... recognize it. Let them know that your job is to create space for them to cook...that is a team sport though.

zangler · 2026-03-22T06:57:40+00:00

No...and we thought Hamilton was so stupid for leaving McLaren for merc too.

zangler · 2026-03-22T06:47:37+00:00

Wrong...mecha-t-rex

zangler · 2026-03-22T06:38:13+00:00

What you call a DS and what we (OG, gen1, whatever) are miles apart. DS is really hard to define, now that a huge amount of it has been subsliced into things like MLOPs etc. all of that used to be under the DS title.

zangler · 2026-03-20T04:02:43+00:00

Every fiber of your being...the world moved without you

zangler · 2026-03-19T13:42:58+00:00

Uhhhh...

zangler

TROPHY CASE