Climbing the AI Career Ladder
What does your manager expect from you as a senior scientist?
AI Scientists and Engineers are an ambitious bunch! But, AI is a new role in many organisations, so there’s not a lot of knowledge out there about how to get more senior in AI roles. In fact, one of the biggest frustrations I hear from scientists is about unclear career growth expectations. As a manager and coach of AI Scientists, here’s a small selection of traits I look for as people move into senior roles.
Can the person deal with ambiguity, or do they need support to tackle larger pieces of work? In part this is related to how well they can talk to stakeholders and gather views, do research, then come to a sensible conclusion about what the options are and how to decide between them. It also means being able to break a larger piece of work down into small and manageable chunks. Normally, when managing a project, I get a good sense of someone’s ability to deal with ambiguity by the amount of direction they need.
How well can someone deliver the work they’re tasked with? Can they get past obstacles, or do they need someone to step in and clear the path? If someone is getting stuck in their work and unable to make progress, then that’s a clear sign that they need to develop more effective ways of working. This shows up in how well a person is meeting their commitments. If projects are always taking a long time or keep getting delayed, even if I believe they’re appropriately scoped, then I begin to have concerns about how effective their work habits are. Of course, there are many valid reasons for delays on any single project. But consistent under-delivery and slow progress is a pattern that needs to be addressed.
Do they concentrate solely on their own work, or do they contribute to making their entire team more effective? What’s the scope of their impact? More senior scientists tend to have a wider influence than their less experienced team members. They also have an important role in mentoring and guiding more junior team members. Managers talk regularly to a wide range of people. The scope of someone’s impact can partly be assessed by the positive feedback that comes back to their manager, and also by who that feedback comes from. If someone I work with has a large scope of impact, then I tend to hear about it from a range of their colleagues.
What’s the depth and breadth of their knowledge? Do they have a good grasp of what’s going on in the field that they can bring back to influence our work? Managers will see you in action during a range of meetings, and that’s one way to gauge knowledge. Another way is via feedback from coworkers, especially those who you are actively mentoring. If your ideas and thoughts are on point and helping the company, then your coworkers will notice and feed back to your manager.
Do they communicate effectively to their coworkers in different roles? Do they keep stakeholders appropriately informed, or do I need to step in and manage the communications? If I see a lot of slack messages going unanswered, or your stakeholders are coming to me because they can’t get the answers they need from you, these are some of the signs that you’re not communicating effectively.
Do they keep me informed of progress, and bring important decisions to me? As a manager, I don’t want to hear about my team’s key decisions and outcomes from other people. I also want to be able to talk confidently about my team’s work with my peers and my own manager. If I can do these things, then I have more confidence that I’m being kept in-the-loop at the appropriate level.
This is by no means a comprehensive list — there are many other factors and nuances that contribute to career growth, and a range of ways that your manager gauges seniority. Career growth tends to be uneven too, and people develop strengths in certain areas as they grow into senior roles. But, these are some of the key behaviours I’ve seen AI Scientists develop as they move into senior roles.
Let me know, how well does this line up with career expectations in your organisation?
