Using Your STEM Degree for a Career in Artificial Intelligence
AI is a growing field, and a popular one. At press time, it’s so new that many wonder how to use related degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) for careers in artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Students who have earned STEM degrees have the analytical skills necessary to transition into the artificial intelligence (AI) sector, and a growing number of graduates are considering their AI degree and career options.
Using Your STEM Degree for a Career in Artificial Intelligence
For veterans and military family members with STEM degrees, there are many potential AI career options in national security, defense technology, and private industry. If you are interested in using a STEM degree to launch a career in artificial intelligence, you may be closer to that new career than you realize.
Core Competencies
STEM graduates understand the mathematical and logical frameworks behind machine learning and neural networks. STEM curricula often require coursework in statistics and data visualization, which is essential. That is because AI careers rely on the ability to interpret large datasets to train models.
Knowing current popular programming languages (SQL, R, or Python and AI-specific libraries like PyTorch or TensorFlow) is a big help when transitioning into some AI fields. Veterans with STEM degrees often have expertise in complex systems, making them ideal for roles in AI-driven signal processing, robotics, and aerospace engineering.
Translating Your STEM Degree and Military Experience
If you are still in school earning a STEM degree, it pays to talk to a career counselor or academic advisor about how to view STEM skills in light of growing AI opportunities. Will they suggest additional artificial intelligence courses or replacement courses for your current academic plan?
Turn your existing or soon-to-be awarded STEM degree and military background into a career in artificial intelligence by finding ways to redefine your existing technical skills for the AI marketplace. You should also consider a degree path for a more specialized AI field or application to make your resume more competitive.
If you studied math or physics, for example, you already understand how data moves through a system. You can apply your knowledge of gradients and matrices to master backpropagation, which is how models learn from their mistakes and improve over time.
If your degree is in biology or chemistry, you have spent years testing hypotheses and checking data for errors. You can use these same skills to evaluate if an AI model is actually accurate or just “hallucinating” results.
If you are an engineer, you understand feedback loops and systems. You can translate your experience with mechanical control systems directly into reinforcement learning, the logic that teaches robots and drones to navigate the real world.
These are the skills people are reinterpreting after graduating from military-friendly colleges to enter the field of artificial intelligence.
Translating Your Military Occupation to AI Jobs
Your military job likely gave you hands-on experience with data and systems that transfer directly to the tech industry.
If you served as an Army 35T (Intelligence Systems Integrator) or a Navy CT (Cryptologic Technician), for example, you can translate your experience with signal processing into Computer Vision or Natural Language Processing, where you teach computers to “see” satellite images or “understand” human speech.
If you were an Air Force 1D7 (Cyber Defense) or Marine Corps 0671 (Data Systems), you have the “plumbing” skills for AI network design. You can move into MLOps, a field focused on building secure pipelines and cloud environments where AI models live and run.
If you worked in technical logistics or operations research, you used data to predict what the mission needed. Use that logic for predictive analytics, and for creating software that warns companies when their machines will break or where supply chains are failing.
Career Integration
Transitioning into AI does not require abandoning your STEM specialty. But you may need to augment that specialty by learning certain AI tools. Job applicants with these skills are competitive in the defense and intelligence sectors. Defense contractors are filling more jobs that integrate AI into missile guidance, satellite networks, and cyber defense platforms.
Some have options, others can’t access. Those still serving may apply for national security fellowships, such as the Army AI Scholars program, which can help officers earn graduate-level degrees at institutions like Carnegie Mellon University. Candidates may need training before serving in technical jobs building AI infrastructure for the Department of Defense, and such fellowships can help.
For family members or veterans interested in the societal effects of AI and other technology, universities like Syracuse University and the Naval Postgraduate School offer certificates in “Artificial Intelligence for Military Use” that utilize AI for data analytics and policy research.
Educational Pathways for Veterans and Families
There is help for those who want to take their STEM expertise into AI fields. The Department of Veterans Affairs and various university-led institutes provide specific funding and programs to bridge the gap between a general STEM degree and an AI specialization. There are also university-level and private college-level programs and online AI certifications to consider.
VA-approved bootcamps like VetsinTech Academy and Skillspire offer intensive AI and machine learning tracks that typically range from 16 to 20 weeks. These are programs designed to help get STEM graduates job-ready by focusing on practical application.
The IBM SkillsBuild Program provides veterans and their families free access to over 1,000 online courses, including an “Artificial Intelligence Fundamentals” track that offers industry-recognized credentials to verify subject matter expertise for potential employers.
These are just some of the options that await those interested in using STEM degrees for AI careers.
About the author
Joe Wallace is a 13-year veteran of the United States Air Force and a former reporter/editor for Air Force Television News and the Pentagon Channel. His freelance work includes contract work for Motorola, VALoans.com, and Credit Karma. He is co-founder of Dim Art House in Springfield, Illinois, and spends his non-writing time as an abstract painter, independent publisher, and occasional filmmaker.
