Your roadmap to becoming an AI / Machine Learning Engineer

Here’s exactly what to study, step by step — from Class 12 to the job. India and abroad. Follow the path, then read the full guide for the detail.

1. Step 1

   Class 12

   Take PCM (Maths essential). This is the foundation the whole path builds on.

2. Step 2

   Degree

   B.Tech CSE / AI / Data Science

   MS Computer ScienceMS AIMS Data Science

   India: JEE Main → CSE/AI branch · Abroad: Class 12 marks + IELTS/SAT

3. Step 3

   Build the skills

   Learn these through projects, not just courses:

   PythonPyTorchTensorFlowNLPLLMsMLOps
4. Step 4

   Internship → first job

   Land an internship, then your first role. This is where the roadmap pays off.

   Salary in India₹15L–₹50L

   Abroad$120K–$200K

   DemandVery High

   Growth32% YoY
5. Step 5

   Level up

   Grow with a master’s (optional), senior specialisation, or in-demand add-ons that raise your ceiling.

Universities teaching this — ranked

Jump straight to the ranked colleges, with AI / Machine Learning Engineer pre-selected.

Salary, demand & growth: J2E Career Pulse (source: LinkedIn Jobs Report 2025), last verified 2026-05-15. Method: how we source this data.