How much math do you need to know to be a machine learning engineer? It’s always nice to know more math! But there’s so much to learn that, realistically, it’s necessary to prioritize.

Machine learning is spreading from big corporations to smaller companies, and many of its practitioners are relatively new to the technology. Almost one in five data scientists active on Kaggle, which hosts machine learning competitions, have been in the field less than one year.

China launches most of AI’s top researchers, but the U.S. is their number-one destination. U.S.-based research group MacroPolo published the Global AI Talent Tracker. The report traces international trends in education and employment among elite engineers.

Many accomplished students and newly minted AI engineers ask me: How can I advance my career? Companies in many industries are building AI teams, but it may not be obvious how to join one of them.