The annual demand for data scientists is predicted to reach 7 lakh by 2020. The demand and high pay packages make data science a lucrative option, says BHUPESH DAHERIA

According to a recent India Jobs study, data science is the fastest-growing field in India. As every company turns into a technology company, organisations in industries such as manufacturing, healthcare, retail, telecom, oil and gas, manufacturing, airline and e-commerce are all trying to grow as data-driven organisations.

They are looking to strengthen their data teams. India is emerging as one of the world’s largest data science capitals. India has a large number of people who have the knowledge of coding, and thus it’s become quite a lucrative career in India. Every industry is hiring.

Data is everywhere. In fact, the amount of digital data that exists is increasing at a rapid rate, almost doubling every year, altering the way we live and interact with the smart technology. Over the past few years, there has been a lot of talk about Data Science, Big Data, Machine Learning and Deep Learning. Today, every organisation is struggling to convert itself into a data driven organisation due to lack of accomplished professionals. This has resulted into an increased demand of data scientists in the world.

Job prospects

With market competition strengthening, top organisations across the world are turning to data scientists to analyse and identify new market opportunities for their services and products. As things stand now, almost 80% of best organisations consider data science as a critical component of business. Data scientists have a huge influence on company policies and marketing strategies. The global demand for Data Scientists has increased exponentially in the past decade and will only increase further.

There is a global demand for data scientists who have in depth knowledge and applied skills in various areas like math, stats, machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing (NLP), R, Python, SQL, SAS, Big Data tools like Hadoop and Spark, Visualisation tools like Cogonos, Tableau and click view.

The application of AI, ML, Deep learning, Data Science is growing in India and around the world in almost every industry like Telecom, IT, Insurance, manufacturing, healthcare, banking, retail, media, consulting, ecommerce, oil, gas, automobile, airline, government, NGOs, start-ups and every functional area.

Remuneration

The salaries of Chief Data Scientists with over 10 years of experience in Mathematics and Statistics are at a minimum of Rs 1 crore, annually. Unicorn Data Scientists, being a specialised skill set, is high in demand to scarcity of talent. They are an upgraded version of our racy data scientists, and are compensated more than $200,000 per year. Data Science is one of the fastest growing, highest remunerating and most intellectually challenging field.

Eligibility

There are multiple ways where you can really start your career. However, there two popular paths to achieve this - One, a structured master’s programme in these fields; Second, to opt for a MOOC course on various platforms like Coursera, edx, Udemy, mUniversity, and the like.

The trend we are observing with the campus recruitment at Aegis, is that companies are paying much more emphasis on what you can do for them than on what you know. They are evaluating students based on the challenging projects they have done, which helps them choose two potentially similar candidates.