Every Skill You Need To Become An Ai Engineer In 2026

Computer science students, new graduates, and software engineers…want to land your dream software engineering job/internship? Click here 👉 https://www.amanmanazir.com/coaching/?utm_source=youtubeu0026utm_medium=video_descriptionu0026utm_campaign=MaddyZhang_AIEngineer2026u0026video=7DSqC-shoNQ. . AI engineers making $500K+ sounds insane… but what do they actually do all day?. . In this clip, we break down the real difference between AI researchers vs AI engineers, the underrated skills companies actually hire for (RAG, evals, MCP), whether you need a PhD, and how junior engineers can break into AI in 2026.. . 🚀 Get my free Software Engineering Crash Course – https://www.amanmanazir.com/7dayengineer. . 🎧 Listen to all episodes of the Software Engineering Accelerator Podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify:. https://podcasts.apple.com/za/podcast/swe-accelerator-podcast/id1742843726?i=1000766820817. https://open.spotify.com/episode/1Kr3Lf3GBnWKyFwXS9xhO6?si=6f95c2199171434e. . Listen to our new podcast, @TheEntropyShow: https://youtu.be/MDJQXbXPngg?si=vQqITmNzy3fhfcV1. . I’m Aman Manazir, a career coach and software engineer. I interned at companies like Amazon, Shopify, and HP in college, and the day I graduated I landed a $168,000/year* full-time software engineering job. I help you make it as a computer science student u0026 software engineer and get your dream job offer.. . 📄 Get my free resume template – https://www.amanmanazir.com/resume. . 💌 Free weekly productivity insights/advice – https://www.amanmanazir.com/newsletter. . 📕 Get all my free Notion templates discussed here – https://www.amanmanazir.com/notion. . 📝 Sign up for Notion – https://affiliate.notion.so/2nh3pjr6l5l6. . 📷 Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/amanmanazir/. . 🐦 Twitter – https://www.twitter.com/amanmanazir. . 👉 Maddy’s YouTube: https://youtube.com/@maddyzhang?si=5QlcdxOXkeWYTriM . 👉 Maddy’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madeline.m.zhang?igsh=YmtjM2djN3Vid3Bj. . 00:00 AI Researcher vs AI Engineer Explained. 00:22 Do You Need A PhD For AI. 01:04 Skills Nobody Talks About But Jobs Want. 02:03 How To Break Into AI Engineering. 03:11 How To Actually Get Interviews. 04:01 What The Interview Loop Looks Like. 06:08 AI Assisted Interviews Are Here. 08:33 Why Google Rejected AI Interviews. 09:51 How Different Companies Hire Differently. 11:09 Honest AI Engineer Salary Ranges. 13:12 Outro