Maths for AI Jobs: The Only Topics You Actually Need (& How to Learn Them)
If you are a software engineer, data scientist or analyst looking to move into AI or you are a UK undergraduate or postgraduate in computer science, maths, engineering or a related subject applying for AI roles, the maths can feel like the biggest barrier. Job descriptions say “strong maths” or “solid fundamentals” but rarely spell out what that means day to day. The good news is you do not need a full maths degree worth of theory to start applying. For most UK roles like Machine Learning Engineer, AI Engineer, Data Scientist, Applied Scientist, NLP Engineer or Computer Vision Engineer, the maths you actually use again & again is concentrated in a handful of topics: Linear algebra essentials Probability & statistics for uncertainty & evaluation Calculus essentials for gradients & backprop Optimisation basics for training & tuning A small amount of discrete maths for practical reasoning This guide turns vague requirements into a clear checklist, a 6-week learning plan & portfolio projects that prove you can translate maths into working code.