Frequently Asked Questions

The impact of COVID - 19 is likely to continue for several months, post-retreat. With a pandemic on the loose and a global lockdown, artificially intelligent machines have certainly become the unsung hero as it has been instrumental in combating the outbreak. On the contrary, the world is also witnessing the layoffs, furloughs, pay cuts due to the financial crisis hit by the pandemic.

The International Data Corporation, however, presents a bright spot for AI in an otherwise gloomy employment picture. One of its studies published in WSJ, says that AI jobs could increase as much as 16% in 2020, against the 13% predicted before COVID-19 took hold.

Now observing AI in India, the adoption rate has been on the rise and by 2023 at least 50% of enterprise applications will have embedded AI functionality built within the system. And by 2025, AI will have become integral to businesses.

As companies confront and adapt to the new reality, the only road to recovery for organizations will be by deploying AI-enabled solutions to reignite top-line growth. Therefore, going forward, professionals honing AI expertise will only become valuable.

Companies that are on the forefront of AI and other deep technologies will thrive in the post-COVID crisis world. Year over year, AI and Machine Learning have proven to become more than buzzwords as the hiring growth for AI/ML roles has grown 74% annually in the past 4 years. Another World Economic Forum report states that over 133 million new roles will surface due to AI/ML and create nearly 58 million new jobs by 2022.

The top job search sites like Indeed and LinkedIn report that vacancies in the realm of AI and Machine Learning are growing endlessly. Also, given the present outlook, professionals with AI capabilities are likely to be spared from the current wave of layoffs and instead looked as a key asset to the organization.

Rather than jobs, AI opportunities are a plenty and will continue to be so even in future. Looking at the present scenario, building AI/ML expertise is not only crucial for the future but also for your professional development.

Advanced Certification in AI/ML is a 6 months* in-depth and comprehensive program designed for working professionals to equip with AI/ML expertise. Jointly delivered by India's #1 Machine Learning Lab - IIIT Hyderabad and TalentSprint.

TIn the wake of Covid-19, the world is going through an uncertain phase. Working from home, not being able to socialize, and concerns about personal and family safety are taking a toll on all of us. We hope the situation will improve soon.

More than ever before, we now need a balance between safety and flexibility in everything we do. We at IIIT Hyderabad and TalentSprint are fully committed to safety, flexibility, excellence and timeliness with regard to all of our programs.

In line with this, we have introduced the following:

1. Attend live interactive online classes by top professors from the safety of your home
2. Practitioner's curriculum with Industry projects and Hackathons
3. High-quality peer-learning, mentored group labs, and hackathons on digital platform
4. Long term interest-free EMI options

If you choose to enroll for Cohort-15, these measures will give you an opportunity to continue your focus on long term goals and career objectives while retaining maximum flexibility.

Our state-of-the-art, direct-to-device digital learning platform, being used by top institutions (IIIT, IIT, IIM) provides the following rich features:

Our digital platform enables participants to

1. Attend all lecture classes online from any location on any device (computer, tablet or smartphone)
2. Interact with faculty, through audio and chat, during the online session
3. Interact with your peers, through chat during the online session

Our digital platform supports mentored online labs for necessary hands on learning.

1. All practical labs are available online on the platform
2. You will have the option to interact with a mentor during the lab sessions
3. You will also be able to set up one-on-one mentoring session during weekdays
4. You can also work with your peer group on the platform for group projects

Yes, all our online sessions are highly interactive and enable audio and chat interaction. Participants can interact and ask questions to faculty through audio. The chat window is common to all participants and faculty and allows interaction among participants.

The classes will have enough interaction to get your doubts cleared. You will also have the additional options:

Discussion forum is open in every course, wherein you can post your queries to be answered by peers in the class as well as mentors

Review session scheduled periodically where you can ask the professors and get your doubts clarified

One on one sessions with mentors can be scheduled anytime during the program.

Given the current crisis due to Covid-19, we understand that participants may have a challenge with cash flows. In order to enhance the Program fee payment flexibility, we have increased the tenure of our interest-free (0% EMI) loan from the current 9 months to 24 months. As a result of this, you will now be able to pay the Program Fee in up to 24 interest-free instalments. You may contact your Relationship Manager for more details.

You will need the following infrastructure to access our platform:

1. Device: A Desktop/Laptop/Tablet/Smartphone with camera and mic.
2. Internet: A regular broadband/wifi connection or a mobile 4G connection.

However, you will need a computer with the necessary configuration to do the online lab sessions.

Yes, program mentors will be available to provide you the required assistance during your online lab exercises schedule.

Participants can interact with their group members for the projects conveniently using Zoom or Skype calls. TalentSprint's platform will also have the provision of group specific discussion forums for asynchronous discussion among the group members.

The contact sessions (in-person) would start as soon as the circumstances permit. It depends on how the situation evolves ensuring the conduct of contact sessions without having any concerns.

TalentSprint's hybrid learning platform values your time and aspirations helping you build your expertise 24x7. The platform is preferred by leading academic institutions including IIM Calcutta, IIT Kanpur and IIIT Hyderabad. The platform is also tested for scale with over 30,000 participants using this platform for their learning.

Machine Learning is a deep technology. It requires a learning format that is tailored for working professionals. However, in the wake of Covid-19, we at IIIT Hyderabad and TalentSprint are fully committed to safety, flexibility, excellence and timeliness with regard to all of our programs. Keeping this in mind, we have introduced these initiatives.

1. Attend live interactive online classes by top professors from the safety of your home
2. High-quality peer-learning, group labs and hackathons on digital platform
3. Long term interest-free EMI options

After work, generating the intensity and energy required for gaining expertise in such a technology is not easy without faculty support and peer learning. This is why the Program has been designed to be delivered digitally with Masterclass Lectures, Mentorship, Hackathons, Workshops and Lab Exercises (with peers and mentor support).

This Program was launched in January 2018. Since then, over 2300+ tech professionals have enrolled in the cohorts at Hyderabad and Bengaluru. The Participants are from 750+ 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

Working professionals solve real-world problems every day in their work life. Hence, a program for a professional has to fit this context and not go by the usual academic learning process which starts with foundational concepts, proceeds to algorithms and finally closes with real-world use cases.

The IIIT Hyderabad AIML Program is specifically designed to start from real-world use cases along with an introduction to the algorithms and foundational concepts related to such real-world use cases. This context makes learning effective for a working professional.

The following program outline will give you a clear picture of the uniqueness of this learning approach.

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

Applications of AI
Learn about different applications of AI like Image Processing,Speech Processing, and Text Processing.

Problem Formulation and Solving
Learn to translate real-world problems in terms of AI/ML abstractions.

Closer Look at AIML Algorithms
Learn about and apply standard AI/ML algorithms to create AI/ML applications.

Deep Learning and Practical Issues
Implement practical solutions using Deep Learning Techniques and Toolchains.

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 product/project manager, 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 a 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 building AI applications and keep yourself updated with the latest techniques and toolchains.

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.

https://iiit-h.talentsprint.com/aiml/#programFeedback

AI and Machine Learning is a deep technology and it requires an effective learning format. For a working professional, after about 40 hours of work every week, generating the intensity and energy required for gaining expertise in such a technology needs a structured approach.

The 6 months AIML Program is designed in an intense interactive format that comprises of 120 sessions, totaling up to 400 hours of learning.

The program is hands-on with a balanced mix of lectures and labs. You get assistance from mentors throughout the program.

The hackathons, group labs, and workshops also enable you to work in teams of exceptional peers.

It is this structure that has enabled over 95% completion rate among the 2300+ participants over the last 14 cohorts.

The Program will be led by collaborative faculty from academia, industry and global blue-chip institutions.

Find details here https://iiit-h.talentsprint.com/aiml/index.html#faculty

• Ability to build and deploy AI/ML and Deep Learning applications at your workplace.
• Reinforce learning by applying concepts in industry-relevant assignments and projects.
• Advanced Certification by IIIT Hyderabad Machine Learning Lab.
• Alumni Status of IIIT Hyderabad Executive Education

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. Designed for working professionals only, there is no placement assistance provided to the participants.

We do get requests from various companies seeking certified talent. Such opportunities will be shared with you as and when received which you can explore directly.

Participants who complete this program will be given an Advanced Executive Certification in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning from India's #1 Machine Learning Lab at IIIT Hyderabad.

Yes, participants of this program get an Executive Alumni status of IIIT Hyderabad, which is ranked #1 for AI research in India.

The program incorporates industry lectures to understand the latest industry trends. In addition, you will be invited to DeepTalk,an interactive series on Deep Tech where leaders, experts, and trendsetters at the forefront of technological change, discuss and share their unique perspective and knowledge in disruptive technologies like AI, ML, Blockchain, FinTech, IoT and more. As a participant/alumni, you will get special voice interaction access with these leaders.

Your co-participants work at top global organizations , have an average experience of 5 years and play different roles in their organizations. The program format with masterclass lectures, labs, hackathons and workshops enables a conducive environment to network with your peers in the cohort. Most participants continue to network even after the cohort using the alumni portal. Some of our programs have even resulted in startups and thought-leadership associations, co-founded by participants of the program.

Participants have termed this a transformation program. The NPS (Net Promoter Score) has been exceptional. Here is the feedback from some of the participants.

There are 5 reasons why serious professionals prefer the IIIT Hyderabad AIML Program.

• Program specifically designed for working professionals (Starts with problem definition, solution and the theory and concepts behind the solution)
• Delivered in interactive digital format, retaining effectiveness while maintaining safety (Uniquely combines the benefit of the in-class program with the flexibility and safety of online delivery)
• Hands-on program with ideal mix of theory and practice (over 60% of program is dedicated for lab experiments and individual and group work and hackathons with continuous mentor support)
• Lectures by both Academic Professors and Industry Practitioners (a pracademic approach combining strong academic rigor coupled with practitioner perspectives)
• Outstanding peer group with extensive group work (learn along with peers from wide range of industries, roles and positions)

"Structured curriculum with industry projects and hackathons makes this course very effective."
Swaroop Shivaram, Principal Engineer, Target

"The AIML program gave the real understanding of working with ML algorithms that I could even tackle Kaggle problems. Post completion, I could confidently get into the ML team at my workplace too."
Sravya Yellapragada, Development Engineer, Pramati Technologies

"Doing hackathons with a diverse group of people gave an opportunity to learn and share ideas, knowledge with them."
Tejeswini, Project Engineer, Skyrus Engineering

"Hands-on learning, tech support, experienced faculty, exposure to real-world problems - the right way to learn AI/ML for professionals."
Sai Kiran Gumma, Vice President, JP Morgan Chase

Industry is clearly looking for professionals who can build AI/ML applications. Professionals with hands-on experience will be preferred by the industry.

This program is designed to reach higher levels of learning as per Bloom's Taxonomy. The program will not only help you Understand, but also enable you to Apply, Analyse and Evaluate which are far higher levels of expertise.

A participant will do 40+ individual lab experiments and 8 mini-hackathons. In addition they will also be participating in 4 hackathons, which includes select kaggle experiments. This will help the participant not only learn and implement AI/ML but also showcase your expertise for the industry to recognize.

Industry needs professionals with technical expertise and domain expertise to work together to solve today's challenges. Generally, domain expertise comes with experience, and tech expertise comes with young professionals.

As AI/ML has recently entered into the main-stage for companies and professionals, and the education system has very limited capacity for producing fresh graduates with AI/ML expertise, the industry is facing severe shortage. NASSCOM predicts that there are 140,000 vacancies while not even 30% of these seats are being fulfilled.

This has opened up great opportunities for working professionals. Those who are developing AI/ML expertise now are in great demand by the industry.

This demand will continue till the education system churns out enough good quality graduates with AI/ML expertise. The fact that the education system right from school is focusing on building AI/ML learning from a young age, and that many engineering institutions have launched focused programs like BTech in AI/ML, the supply will catch up with industry demand over the next 3-5 years.

This opens up a good window of opportunity for working professionals. If someone enters this area in the next 6 months to 1 year, they will have more than 2 year window to showcase their expertise and become the lead for the new generation that would come in.

Professionals are presented with a unique window of opportunity with AI/ML expertise. In the 1990s a large number of science graduates shifted to technology, and they are now defining the Technology sector. Similarly, those who enter the AI/ML area now will have a distinct advantage in the future of the industry.

Here's why this is the right time to invest in building your expertise:

• Industry needs more deep-tech (AI/ML) professionals and less gen-tech (Java, testing, project manager) professionals
• Growth opportunity is available for deep-tech and risk is higher for gen-tech professionals in the current economic scenario
• Professionals today have more time in hand to 'sharpen the saw' than ever before thanks to working from home and avoiding hours and hours of travel to office and back in traffic

Based on the data since lockdown, we find that serious professionals are using this time to get ready for the future.

• Participants from top companies with over 60% of them having 10 years of experience enrolled for the program between March-July 2020 with 55% in the managerial roles
• Professionals working in companies including Amazon, Bank of America, Capgemini, DBS Bank, Google, IBM, JP Morgan, Infosys, Microsoft, TCS, Tech Mahindra and more have already participated in the Program
• Upskilling and developing a beginner's mindset is important to survival in the post-COVID world.
• The Atal Innovation Mission will train 2.5 Million students in the country on AI very soon. This will increase the pool of available AI professionals.

Two things are happening as you wait and watch. 1) Younger and more dynamic professionals are going to enter with knowledge, 2) the experience premium will continue to drop thereby making senior professionals less attractive to companies. Hence, earlier one moves into sunrise areas will be better.

The LinkedIn Emerging Jobs Report lists AI as the #1 in the emerging jobs list for 2020. The average package for AI professionals is approx 15 lakhs across all experience levels and skill sets.

The Program will be delivered in interactive digital format, retaining effectiveness while maintaining safety. The format uniquely combines the benefits of an in-class program with the flexibility and safety of online delivery.

Program will be delivered on TalentSprint's patent pending iPearl.ai, a leading digital learning platform of choice used for programs delivered by the likes of Google, IIM Calcutta, IIT Hyderabad, IISc, and IIT Kanpur to name a few.

Last 3 cohorts of the AI/ML program has been delivered on this platform and has achieved high completion rate.

Learning effectiveness and experience of the participants on this program has been high with NPS of over 80 (NPS of 50 and above considered excellent while 70 and above is considered "world class")

Participants Feedback

• Cohort 12 (NPS 85)
• Cohort 14 (NPS 96)
• Completion Rate 96%

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

Technology professionals with at least 1 year of experience are eligible to join this program A Relationship Manager will be assigned to you, who would gather all the necessary information from you and will represent your candidature to the selection committee for review.

Join in these easy steps:

1. Share your details and apply for the program
2. Wait for selection by the program selection committee
3. Upon selection, block your seat by paying the registration fee
4. Pay the full program fee as per the timeline and complete your enrollment
5. Start Building AI/ML Expertise
6. Get Certified by IIIT Hyderabad ML Lab

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

Applications of AI
Learn about different applications of AI like Image Processing,Speech Processing, and Text Processing.

Problem Formulation and Solving
Learn to translate real-world problems in terms of AI/ML abstractions.

Closer Look at AIML Algorithms
Learn about and apply standard AI/ML algorithms to create AI/ML applications.

Deep Learning and Practical Issues
Implement practical solutions using Deep Learning Techniques and Toolchains.

The Program format includes masterclass lectures, hands-on tutored labs, hackathons, workshops, mentorship and peer learning.

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.

Next cohort starts in August 2020.

As per the Program norms, the participant has to maintain at least 75% of attendance during the tenure of the Program. Going by the curriculum, it is recommended for the participant to maintain attendance for enriched learning. In the event of unavoidable circumstances if any, one can access the recorded lectures on our platform to cover up for the missed sessions.

Both Individual and Group Lab sessions are designed to check, deepen and reinforce the learning. Especially, group-based labs are designed to have participants from varied backgrounds, which will be a real benefit in addition to the task at hand. An overall 75% lab attendance is mandatory as per the program norms.

Yes, participants are required to have their personal laptop. Lab Exercises will be conducted on a cloud-based platform provided by TalentSprint.

There will not be any facilitated lab sessions after the program is over. 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 available for 1 year from the date of the commencement of the Program.

The Program fee is ₹2,00,000 plus GST. See details on this page

Yes. Flexible EMI options can be availed to pay the program fee in installments.

Yes. There are 0% Interest Scheme from Credit Card partners and Finance partners. See details on this page

Special scholarships are available for Academia, Startup, Women, Youth and participants joining in a Group.

No. The program fee is non-refundable and non-transferable under any circumstances.

Yes, late payment charges are applicable as follows:
Delay of up to 5 days - ₹3,000
Delay of 5-10 days - ₹5,000
Delay beyond 10 days would lead to cancellation of enrollment and the fee paid will be forfeited.

Building deep-tech expertise is an absolute necessity for professionals in this fast-changing world that is constantly disrupted by technology.

Professionals have multiple options for funding.

1. Sponsored by employer
2. Self-funded

Based on our experience in enabling 3000 professionals who have participated in our executive programs, self-funding seemed to be the most preferred option with over 80% choosing this.

Three key reasons why professionals opt for it:

1. Freedom: To opt for a program of their choice, at a time of their choice, with an institution of their choice and not be restrained by organisation’s policy.
2. Flexibility: To pursue greater career opportunities well even beyond their current employer or to nurture their entrepreneurial ambitions.
3. Funding: Access to flexible EMI schemes (Paying as low as Rs. 4200 per lac per month).

We have also observed that the commitment levels were higher among self-funding participants.

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 centre stage. A career shift into these disruptive technologies is becoming a necessity for tech professionals.

• AI is the Next Industrial Revolution ~Wall Street Journal
• AI to improve the rate of innovation 2.2 times by 2021 ~IDC
• Hiring for AI roles has been growing at 74% annually ~ Forbes
• AI Specialist ranked as the #2 top emerging job in India and #1 in the US ~ LinkedIn
• AI would be the bedrock of the era of connected mobility, automation and Industry 4.0 ~ IBM
• By 2023, at least 50% of enterprise applications will have embedded AI functionality built within the system. ~ Gartner

• The curriculum of the program has been designed by IIIT Hyderabad Faculty. It is uniquely structured to serve the learning needs of professionals at every level of the organization.
• KCIS, the Kohli Centre on Intelligent Systems along with India's #1 Machine Learning Lab, both hosted inside IIIT Hyderabad , power the research and deep tech expertise of the program. KCIS has been ranked as the leading centre in India for AI and Robotics (2008-2018) ~ CSRankings.org
• The program will be delivered by top-notch faculty from IIIT Hyderabad, recognized in the areas of Machine Learning and Optimization, Biometrics, Computer Vision and more. Mentorship from them is valuable from the perspective of building a deep and hands-on approach to learning and practising AI and ML.

• First IIIT in India
• Largest CS Research Group in India
• #1 in AI Research in India
• #2 in Robotics Research in Asia

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's pracademic platform offers the hybrid onsite and online experience to participants of this program.
• TalentSprint brings renowned leaders and professionals from the industry to interact with participants and share their real-life experiences and learnings.
• The lab sessions, to enable participants to apply the concepts in real life, are held by the expert team at TalentSprint the participants to apply the concepts in real life.
• TalentSprint’s team helps participants throughout the program with 24*7 support.

• Deep Tech Program for Professionals
• Best in Class Hybrid Platform
• Industry Partnerships
• Academic Partnerships

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