Frequently Asked Questions

1. This Program is offered by India's #1 Machine Learning Lab at IIIT-H and TalentSprint.
2. It is an in-depth and comprehensive Program suitable for Tech Professionals.
3. Program is delivered in Hybrid format combining classroom and online learning along with 1 Year Online Access and Support.
4. Unique 5-step learning process: Masterclass Lectures, Hands-on Labs, Mentorship, Hackathons and Workshops ensure fast-track learning.
5. Led by collaborative Faculty from Academia, Industry and Global Bluechip Institutions.
6. Advanced Certification by IIIT-H ML Lab
7. Exceptional peer-group. 2200+ Professionals with an average of 7 years of experience, working with 600+ leading companies have participated in this program.
8. Competitive and affordable pricing from IIIT-H compared to other AI/ML programs. For more information, watch this video.
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVsNLZQsTCI&authuser=0

Machine Learning is a deep technology. It requires a learning format that is tailored for working professionals. After about 40 hours of work every week at your workplace, generating the intensity and energy required for gaining expertise in such a technology is not easy without faculty contact and peer learning. This is why the Program was designed as a contact + online format via Masterclass Lectures, Mentorship, Hackathons, Workshops and Lab Exercises (with peers and mentor support).

Further, most people find it difficult to complete online programs. And those who finish it, do not have the same level of hands-on learning when compared to participants of a hybrid program. The online-only programs have some way to go before they can deliver this level of effectiveness.

This Program is designed for the working professionals for gaining practical knowledge. The Program is structured from the practitioner's viewpoint and hence is very different from typical academic programs, though retaining the academic rigour of IIIT Hyderabad. This is different from most other programs offered in the market.

Key Components of the Program viz. Lectures, Individual Labs, Mentor Support, Hackathons and Industry Interface provide a high impact experience. Most of the programs from academic institutions are largely online in nature.

Peer-learning becomes possible because of this being an Intensive Contact Program.

This Program was launched in January 2018. Since then, over 2200+ tech professionals have enrolled in the cohorts at Hyderabad and Bengaluru. The Participants are from 600+ globally leading Companies across several industries.

• 70% Participants have over 5 Years of Experience
• 19% Women Participants
• 30% from Startups and Small Companies
• 34% Developers, 27% Analysts, 27% Managers and 12% Leadership Positions

Participants have termed this a Transformation Program. The NPS (Net Promoter Score) has been exceptional. Here is the feedback from some of the participants in their own words.
Participant Reviews

Faculty Members

In recent years, AI has evolved as a dominant disruptor. Every industry is adopting AI to digitally transform their businesses. The need for understanding AI and exploiting its potential has now expanded far beyond the techies sitting in the research lab and developers trying to show PoC on a miniature data set.

It is the need of the hour for professionals across the organization, independent of their job roles, to have a working knowledge of AI and how to effectively use this disruptive technology in their area of work.

If you are a Business Leader and CXO

If you are a business leader, or CXO of an organization, large or small, MNC or a startup, you need to use the disruptive power of AI to make your product/service valuable to your customers. When you understand how AI can be used as a competitive advantage and also a decision making tool, you will build a strong organization.

One can argue that a business leader can recruit professionals with AI knowledge. However, as always, everything starts at the top. To adopt this disruptive technology, you need to build a culture of data based decision making and effective use of AI, which can be done only when the top management is part of the process.

If you are a Product/Project Manager

As a manager of a product or a project, it is likely that your responsibility will include a good proportion of AI. If not today, very soon, you will see the type of problems you manage, change completely. This will be driven by AI and to be effective in your role, you need to understand how AI works, ask the right questions. Be intelligent in your discussion with your customer/team. Hence, you need to get the right perspective on AI.

If you are Developer or an Analyst

For code developers, building expertise in AI will enable them to stay ahead of the competition. It is clear that AI is evolving faster than ever and one needs to keep up with the trends to be able to cope with the career challenges ahead. As a developer, you need to be at the forefront of developing AI applications. And keep yourself updated with the latest techniques and toolchains.

The usual learning process for college and school students on any new technology starts with foundational concepts, proceeds to algorithms and finally ends with real-world use cases.

However, for a working professional, the learning needs are different because they need to focus on solving real-world problems.

The IIIT Hyderabad AI/ML Program is specially designed to take the working professional from real-world use cases to algorithms and then the foundational concepts. While knowledge of the foundation is very important, one does not have too much time to learn the same. The modules are carefully curated to enable the learners to go through a gradually increasing level of comprehensiveness and technicalities.

The structure of the units in the modules will give you an idea of the flow.

Unit 0 Foundations

Refresh your knowledge on coding and mathematics necessary for building expertise in AI/ML.

Unit 1 Problem Formulation and Solving

Learn to translate real-world problems in terms of AI/ML abstractions.

Unit 2 Closer Look at AIML Algorithms

Learn about and apply standard AI/ML algorithms to create AI/ML applications.

Unit 3 Deep Learning and Practical Issues

Implement practical solutions using Deep Learning Techniques and Toolchains.

The program attracts people from a wide range of experience and job profiles.

Experience Chart

Job Profile Chart

This diversity acts as one of the key benefits for the program. In any organization, there will be a need for people across Leadership roles, management roles, analyst roles and developers to work together to bring a project to light. The good mix of participants across all levels makes the program come very close to one's work environment.

But how does this group dynamics work during labs, where participants have to work individually? How will expertise or otherwise on coding impact the same

The unique 3-level design of the lab experiments enables participants to choose their path among:

1. Level A: "I want to write the algorithms and make it work." This is generally preferred by participants in Analysts and Developer roles.
2. Level B: "I want to put to use built in functions and implement algorithms." This is generally preferred by participants in Management and Analyst roles.
3. Level C: "I want to understand how algorithms work and how assumptions and inputs impact the outcome. " This level is generally preferred by participants in leadership and management roles.

One has the freedom to choose the implementation level based on the need that each experiment fulfills for them. Hence, there is a requisite hands-on for every level in this program.

Special Scholarships are available for Academia, Startup, Women, Youth and Groups.
Academia: Professors aspiring to upgrade themselves with cutting edge deep tech expertise and high achievers students and can apply for scholarships under Academia Scholarship.
Startups: Startup community is encouraged to enhance their skills in this deep technology by using the Startup Scholarship.
Women: To improve the gender ratio in the industry, we encourage more women to enroll in the program through this Scholarship.
Youth: We encourage youth with less than 5 years of experience to avail of the Youth Scholarship and benefit from this program.
Group: Group Scholarship is available to facilitate participants (in groups of 3 or more) to build expertise along with their colleagues/friends.

March 2020 Cohort (13-Week Format)

1. Ability to build and deploy AI/ML and Deep Learning applications at your workplace
2. Advanced Certification by IIIT-H ML Lab
3. Learn from the world class faculty and seasoned industry professionals
4. Reinforce learning by applying concepts in industry relevant assignments and projects

This is an expertise-building program for working professionals. You obtain an Advanced Certification from IIIT Hyderabad, a leading research institution. Expertise built in this program will prepare you to explore opportunities in the area of AI/ML.

Having said that, the participants of the previous cohorts were from over 600+ leading global organizations like Accenture, AT&T, Intel, Oracle, Wipro, Bayer, Google, Amazon, Deloitte, and many others. Your peers will most likely have an experience ranging from 3 to 22 years. The network provides value even after the program in terms of thought and opportunity exchange. Such interactions have resulted in startups and thought-leadership associations in our programs.

That is not all. TalentSprint partners with corporates to deliver capability-building programs in the deep-tech space. It extends career opportunities to its alumni network as and when they are requested by these corporates.

This Program is not intended for freshers starting an IT career. It is to serve as an entry point for working professionals into the field of Machine Learning/AI roles.

You will be able to build and deploy AI/ML and Deep Learning applications at your workplace. The content will be a mix of Lectures and Workshops from industry leaders as well as world-renowned faculty.

The Program Format includes Masterclass Lectures, Hands-on Tutored Labs, Hackathons, Mentorship and Peer Learning.

The Program is intended for technology professionals (preferable with some coding experience.) To know more about the Program prerequisites, watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRU0GCSk3OM&authuser=0

Only working professionals with minimum 1 year of experience can apply for the Program. Once you have applied, our screening team will review your application and get back to you.

You can join in 4 easy steps:

The Program fee is ₹ 2,00,000/-.
Scholarship is available only for Women and Group.
Flexible EMI Options are available.
For all Fee related details visit https://iiit-h.talentsprint.com/aiml/fee-structure.html

Option 1: 0% EMI 0-8 Month Credit Card and Bajaj Finserv Scheme
Option 2: Interest-based 9-24 Month Credit Card EMI Scheme available with major Banks
See details on this page

A late fee is applicable for a delay in payment of balance fee:
Delay of up to 5 days - ₹ 3,000/-
Delay of 5-10 days - ₹ 5,000/-
Delay beyond 10 days - enrollment will be cancelled and fee paid will be forfeited

Program Fee is non-refundable and non-transferable under any circumstances.

• Contact Sessions at Hyderabad for 13 weeks (Saturday, Sunday)
• Classes start in March 2020

Yes, in case of some lab exercises. The program is designed to offer both individual and group based lab exercises. In case of individual lab exercises you are allowed to submit from home only within the given timelines. Accordingly, IIIT ML Lab and TalentSprint will be providing mentors for necessary assistance.

In addition to weekend slots, additional online lab time with the mentors will be available. Participants have to choose their suitable slot as per the availability of mentors for the same.

Being an intensive program, It is recommended that one should not miss a class to ensure enriched learning. In case it is unavoidable, one will have access to the video recording of the class in the LMS for necessary reference and use. Also, as per the program norms as overall 75% attendance is mandatory. In case it is unavoidable, one will have access to an unedited version of the video recording of the class in the LMS, by the end of the day. The edited version will be posted to the LMS by end of day on every Tuesday.

Both Individual and Group Lab sessions are designed to check, deepen and practice the classroom learnings. Especially, group based labs are designed to have a mix of participants from varied backgrounds, which will be a real benefit in addition to the task at hand. Also, as per the program norms overall 75% attendance is mandatory. In case a lab session is missed due to unavoidable circumstances, exercises are available on a cloud platform which can be accessed from home but facilitated lab sessions will not be available on the cloud platform so it is recommended to not miss any of these sessions.

The Program is designed to have continuous formative and summative assessments. The final scores will be determined based on the sum of scores of various assessments.

Yes, every Participant is required to carry his/her personal laptop. Exercises will be conducted on a cloud based platform.

After the program, there will not be any facilitated lab sessions. However, you can seek support from mentors with a prior request based on availability.

The program related learning material is made accessible through an integrated learning management system (LMS). The access will be given for 1 year (12 months) from the program start.

Yes. Depending on your percentage of score and attendance you will either get a merit or a participation certificate.

There was a time when experience had a premium badge in the Tech Industry. Alas, that premium is eroding fast and has even become a hindrance. Traditional IT roles are declining as disruptive technologies like AI, Machine Learning, and Big Data are taking center stage. A career shift into these disruptive technologies is becoming a necessity for tech professionals.

Kohli Center on Intelligent Systems (KCIS) at IIIT-H was established in 2015 to give a fillip to research, teaching and entrepreneurship in the Broad Intelligent Systems Area. The Machine Learning Lab acts as an umbrella organization at the institute to both strengthen the existing groups and facilitate new activities in related areas. It also acts as a force multiplier in attracting projects and funding from the government and industry sectors, coordinating research in related domains across different IIIT-H centers, as well as in the institute's research collaboration with other academic institutions in the country. For more information please visit www.iiit.ac.in

TalentSprint brings high-end and deep-tech education to aspiring and experienced professionals. It partners with world-class academic institutions and global corporations to develop and offer disruptive programs. TalentSprint's hybrid platform delivers unique onsite and online experiences that help build cutting-edge expertise, for today and tomorrow. For more information please visit www.talentsprint.com