Wizeline launches Artificial Intelligence Academy in Mexico

Wizeline, the AI powered digital product and customer experience solutions provider, has announced the launch of Wizeline Artificial Intelligence Academy. The first batch will start in December 2016, offering qualified applicants tuition-free coursework on artificial intelligence, machine learning and other advanced software engineering skills and technologies. The courses will be given at Wizeline’s office campus in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Course offerings

The AI Academy will offer two course tracks; the Machine Learning Intensive and the Data Science Intensive. Both designed for aspiring experts in advanced machine learning, data analysis, and other technologies. The Academy will also offer a number of weekend crash courses designed for students from a broader set of backgrounds who are looking to gain baseline familiarity with subject areas such as data science, natural language processing (NLP) and chatbots. After completing their chosen track, students with a background in computer science or engineering will be prepared to take on full-time artificial intelligence development work. Matt Pasienski, Head of Growth and Director, AI Academy, Wizeline said, “The goal of AI Academy is to prepare talented engineers for the massive growth in demand for artificial intelligence skillset, which has recently just begun.”

“AI and machine learning today are what distributed systems and cloud-computing were about ten years ago—which means we’re poised for massive growth in demand for engineers with pertinent skillsets.”

Wizeline AI Academy builds on the previous successes of the Wizeline UX Academy, which enrolled its first students in August 2016. Artificial intelligence already powers tools like IBM’s Watson and Amazon’s Alexa, but there are many frontiers yet to explore using AI, machine learning, NLP, and other data analytics tools.

Rationale behind the launch

The company aims to address customer demand for AI-powered business applications while grooming talent to excel at the cutting edge of technology. It anticipates its AI Academy will bridge the gap between engineering talent today and the competitive hiring and product development demands facing the technology industry. The company also claims that it plans to hire more than one hundred AI engineers across its Guadalajara and Vietnam offices before March 2017. By offering free courses designed to empower new generations of engineers, the Wizeline AI Academy aims to prepare its students to master these techniques. Graduates will not only solve engineering challenges, but have the expertise to explore new possibilities in technology. Bismarck Lepe, Founder and CEO, Wizeline said, “Mexico, specifically Guadalajara, has all the ingredients for scaling AI software engineering: many great technical universities, a high-density of talented and creative engineers. Even its moderate climate is conducive to scaling high-tech growth—it literally feels like Silicon Valley.” Through AI Academy, Wizeline aims to encourage engineers who are curious about artificial intelligence to gain critical skills. To qualify for Wizeline AI Academy’s intensive course track, students must have a degree in computer science or applied mathematics, or have at least two years of experience developing software. To qualify for crash courses, students should know basic computer programming.