Breaking into the Tech Industry by Building AI and Data Skills

Making a career shift into tech isn’t easy. Especially when you already have experience in another field. 

• Do you start from scratch? (Which can definitely work)

• Or do you take what you know and add to it so that you can open up a brand new career path?

That’s the choice one ZTM student faced. But by adding new tech skills on top of his background, he was able to land his first industry role in just a few months.

This is his story.

Meet Martin

Hi, my name is Martin Valdivia , and I'm the Manager of Digitalization and Compliance for a medical supplies manufacturing company called B.Braun.

I’ve been in this role for about a month now, since August 2025.

What did you do before this role?

I was a researcher at the prestigious Technische Universität in Berlin, focusing on research topics such as digitalization and support of AI for mechatronic system development, with a focus on traceability and simulation.

I’ve actually had a pretty interesting career, working between different industries such as aeronautics, construction, manufacturing, quality management, design, and research!

What was the goal or outcome you were hoping for from ZTM? Did you achieve it?

I wanted to get the TensorFlow developer certification from Google, as I figured it could help my career. I had a look around and found Daniel Bourke’s course on the topic and worked my way through it.

Advanced

TensorFlow for Deep Learning Bootcamp: Zero to Mastery

64 Hours •434 Lessons

Learn TensorFlow. Get Hired. This course will take you from a beginner to a TensorFlow and Deep Learning Expert. Includes Computer Vision, Convolutional Neural Networks, Transfer Learning, NLP + more!

Daniel Bourke

This course then helped me understand the topics in a way that I could replicate these skills on other projects. 

Unfortunately, while I was taking the course, Google decided to stop offering the certification!  However, I’ve since realized that certifications are not that important anyway, as companies care more that you have proof that you can do the work, so that was fine. 

When did you first realize you needed something like ZTM Academy?

I wanted to find a more structured way of learning how to use Deep Learning models, so I tried out a couple of courses on different platforms. 

I had tried another course where they gave the option to code directly in their own platform and get immediate feedback. The problem was that I then found it hard to apply this in the actual tools used in industry. Also, some other courses were out of date.

This is when I started searching and found the ZTM courses. I really liked the way that the instructors break down in-depth topics clearly, and I know they are updated regularly. That and the fact that they teach you how to do all this using the actual tools that people use out in the industry.

I took this course, and then went through and completed all the courses in the Data Scientist and Data Analyst roadmaps also!

Become a Data Scientist

16 milestones • 12 courses

Step-by-step roadmap with a curated curriculum of courses, workshops, challenges, projects and action items that will give you the skills, portfolio and experience to become a Data Scientist and get hired.

Explore Career Path

Become a Data Analyst

15 milestones • 12 courses

Transform raw data into actionable insights for businesses! This step-by-step roadmap with a curated curriculum of courses, projects and action items that will give you the skills, portfolio and experience to become a Data Analyst and get hired.

Explore Career Path

I did the whole Data Scientist track in about 3-4 months; however, I did have some prior coding knowledge before starting, so it might take other people a little longer.

There were a few difficulties at times, as it’s a new topic and industry, but it all came together, and I was able to start solving problems with Kaggle databases by myself, which was a huge boost to my confidence!

Also, each course built on the others as there’s a lot of overlap between data roles, so it got easier as I went.

What do you think differentiates ZTM from other resources you used?

I would probably say that the biggest things are the access to answers from instructors, alongside the real-life problems that you get to work on. 

Editor’s note: Each of our instructors works in the industry they teach, so they’re up to date on information but also make sure the projects and theory you’re learning is relevant to what you need in the role).

It’s really hard to find a community where the instructors and other members are so helpful, and everyone really wants you to succeed.

For example

I saw that one of the instructors (Diogo Resende) at ZTM lives in the same city as me. So I wrote to him and he agreed to meet for a coffee and a chat, which was huge! 

I mean, who does that?

Diogo teaches the Data Science courses at ZTM, and was super helpful answering questions and giving me advice. I know we could talk via the private Discord community, but this chat helped me a lot, since I had the opportunity to speak with someone who actually hired people.

One of the big things that he shared with me was about getting hired. I didn’t know it at the time, but employers will often look for specific things in a potential new hire outside of the technical knowledge, which then helped when applying for roles.

As for the community support, there were always people ready to answer any questions I had, while the courses all had guided examples and really explanatory videos. 

What has been the biggest challenge in your journey from learning to code to getting hired?

I had to sell my coding skills without having experience outside of my course projects. These definitely helped, but the market was in a situation where experience was most valued. 

Editor’s note: This is why it's also worth building personal projects around key ideas that you learn inside of courses. You can then stand out further, while also having unique experiences.

I wanted to get into the industry and was offered a good role as a digitalization expert, so I jumped at the opportunity. It’s not quite the Data Scientist role that I was originally looking for, but the skills I picked up during the courses definitely help me in my current role.

And I can always improve further and apply again in the future with more experience under my belt.

Now that you have your new position, how do you feel?

I feel confident! I know for a fact that I have the skills to perform this role, as well as trust in myself around analysis and models.  And if I can’t solve it, I’ve also built skills to be versatile and figure things out. Something I didn’t realize I would learn, but super helpful.

Not only that, I've also been able to apply AI skills to my regular processes, which has helped to reduce the workload of myself and colleagues. This has helped free us up to focus on more important things which is awesome.

As for the salary, it's similar to what I was on before. However, I’m on a new ‘ground level’ in this role, and the ceiling to earn more is much higher than I had in previous roles.

What advice would you give other students who are considering joining the ZTM Academy?

I think one of the key things is to be able to solve problems yourself (which I know seems odd when you’re thinking about joining a training program).

What I mean by this is that the courses will teach you what you need to know. But there will always be situations that you’re not 100% ready for, due to situations being slightly different, and that’s a good thing. 

Being able to get the skill to figure things out will not only make you more hirable and confident, but it’ll also help you out in the real world and in your new job.

Trust me, when you hit a wall is when the true learning potential begins. 

Also, don’t be afraid to ask questions and say you don’t know, but that you’ll find out. Over time, this gets easier and easier, and will actually make your entire life less stressful because you know you can adapt!