If I had 6 months to become an AI Engineer, I'd do this.
Stage 1 — Programming Fundamentals (Weeks 1–2) Learn Python, Git, Linux, SQL, APIs, OOP, NumPy, and Pandas.
Stage 2 — Math & ML Foundations (Weeks 3–4) Master linear algebra, probability, statistics, calculus, regression, classification, clustering, and evaluation metrics.
Stage 3 — Deep Learning (Weeks 5–6) Learn neural networks, backpropagation, CNNs, RNNs, PyTorch, TensorFlow, and model training.
Stage 4 — LLM Fundamentals (Weeks 7–8) Understand transformers, attention, tokens, embeddings, context windows, prompting, and function calling.
Stage 5 — RAG & Vector Databases (Weeks 9–10) Learn embeddings, chunking, retrieval, reranking, LangChain, LlamaIndex, FAISS, Chroma, Pinecone, and Qdrant.
Stage 6 — AI Agents (Weeks 11–12) Build agents using LangGraph, CrewAI, MCP, tool calling, memory, planning, and multi-agent workflows.
Stage 7 — Fine-Tuning & Open Models (Weeks 13–14) Learn LoRA, QLoRA, PEFT, Unsloth, Hugging Face, model quantization, and inference optimization.
Stage 8 — Multimodal AI (Weeks 15–16) Work with vision models, OCR, speech-to-text, text-to-speech, image generation, and document understanding.
Stage 9 — Production AI Engineering (Weeks 17–20) Master FastAPI, Docker, Redis, PostgreSQL, authentication, caching, queues, monitoring, logging, and cloud deployment.
Stage 10 — AI Evaluation & MLOps (Weeks 21–22) Learn LangSmith, W&B, hallucination testing, latency, cost optimization, CI/CD, Docker, Kubernetes, and model monitoring.
Stage 11 — Build a Portfolio (Weeks 23–24) Ship:
Production RAG Assistant
AI Coding Agent
Customer Support SaaS
Multimodal Document Parser
AI Research Agent
AI Workflow Automation
Deploy every project publicly with a live demo, README, and architecture diagram.
Stage 12 — Job Preparation Practice Python, SQL, LeetCode basics, system design, ML concepts, LLM interviews, and AI engineering case studies.
Apply for:
+AI Engineer
+GenAI Engineer
+Machine Learning Engineer
+Applied AI Engineer
+AI Platform Engineer
+AI Software Engineer
Don't spend 6 months watching AI tutorials.
Spend 6 months building AI systems people would actually use.