Andrew Ng maps AI engineering skills: LLM foundations, retrieval, agents, and eval-driven dev
DeepLearningAI · x · 2026-08-26
Andrew Ng laid out Pillar 1 ("Building and Deploying AI Applications") of his AI Engineering Skills Map, arguing that reliable AI from unpredictable components demands a new playbook of continuous iteration and disciplined eval loops:
- LLM Foundations: understand model mechanics to predict failures and pick the right architecture;
- Grounding Models with Data: architect reliable context via clean data pipelines and retrieval structures;
- Building Agentic Systems: design the agent harness — tool integrations, context memory, production guardrails;
- Evaluation-Driven Development: tailored eval loops for systematic, measurable progress;
- Operating in Production: real-time observability, security defenses, statistical evaluation; plus ML foundations and more.
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