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.

Data scientists and machine-learning specialists are playing an increasingly integral role in many organizations' strategy and product development. Are most of these technologists involved in every part of their employers' data analysis and model training, or do they just specialize in specific areas? According to SlashData's Q3 2021 analysis, the answer is the latter: Most data scientists and machine-learning specialists focus on a few parts of the overall data science/machine learning (DS/ML) workflow. The highest percentage is involved in data exploration and analysis; far fewer participate in model deployment, project management, and model health and lifecycle management. The complexity of managing models may account for its relatively small percentage.