These days, everybody is talking about AI. According to trends platform Exploding Topics, this year, there are around 70,000 AI companies worldwide compared to 2023’s 67,300. One in four is based in the U.S., and global AI funding grew by a factor of seven between 2015 and 2019.

Take up is accelerating as well: there are over 115 million companies currently using AI and around 42% of companies are exploring the use of AI. As a result, it isn’t much of a surprise to learn that there is a talent scramble underway.

According to sources, Mark Zuckerberg has written personal emails to researchers at Google’s DeepMind, in an effort to convince them to come and work at Meta.

The company is also reported as making job offers to suitable candidates without interviews, and it has stepped back on a policy of not offering higher salaries to existing staff who have job offers from competitors.

When it comes to what you can earn if you’ve got the right AI skills, reports indicate that Meta pays AI researchers up to $2 million, and OpenAI has even deeper pockets, offering salaries in the $5 million to $10 million range.

Not bad.

And while job search site Indeed has found that the number of job postings for software roles has tapered off, there has been a 15.7% increase in the number of AI-related postings.

According to Pluralsight’s 2024 Technical Skills Report, interest in developing AI/ML skills has increased 11% from last year among technologists, and a new Microsoft report reveals that two-thirds of leaders wouldn’t hire someone without AI skills.

This all presents an opportunity for talented workers––along with a challenge for companies, as 43% of HR managers said in 2023 that their companies would face a skills gap.

A recent survey from AWS has also found that only 14% of workers consider themselves to have “advanced” fluency in AI, which means that there is an opportunity gap that is waiting to be filled, not enough talent currently has the correct capabilities.

One way to address an AI skills gap is with education. Right now, there are a number of free resources you can take advantage of, including some from MIT.

Or, you could take a look at the Inception Program from NVIDIA's Deep Learning Institute (DLI). It is offering free credits aimed at enhancing AI skills, for those working at startups.

You can apply even if your company doesn’t use NVIDIA's GPUs or SDKs, and if you’re approved, you’ll get free technical training, opportunities for co-marketing and customer introductions, engineering guidance, and exposure to a community of VCs.

There are also many areas you can do a learning deep-dive on, across talks, tutorials, panels, demos, DLI Training Lab, or fireside chats for example. Topics on coffee include Generative AI With Diffusion Models, Fundamentals of Deep Learning, Rapid Application Development Using Large Language Models, or Building RAG Agents with LLMs, for example.

AI upskilling makes sense: not only can it future-proof your career prospects, but learning in-demand skills will get you hired.

Ready to find your next role in tech? Whether you want to pivot to AI or put your coding expertise to good use, visit the Hackernoon Job Board today

By Kirstie McDermott