Machine-learning specialists can earn a median salary of $150,000. Here's how to make a career pivot without spending years in academia.

Machine-learning specialists are highly sought after right now. Recruiters and experts told Insider they were facing an acute shortage of machine-learning skills as the demand for specialists in artificial intelligence moved beyond tech and into sectors such as healthcare and finance. Machine learning is a commonly used form of artificial intelligence that involves the use of self-learning programs and algorithms. It underpins a lot of services, from the movies Netflix recommends to fraud detection for banks. The technology allows computers to process and draw patterns from huge amounts of data, which makes it useful in a variety of fields.