AI consultant and solutions engineer
Learn to scope an AI project for a client and build, test and hand over the first working version, using AI coding tools from week 1, in 20 weeks.
Coming soon · planned, not written yet
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- 20
- weeks planned
- ~30 h
- a week
- 5
- milestone projects
- 1
- project, grown every week
These are planned figures. The weeks are written after we check the tools against current job postings and official documentation, so the final route may differ.
Built for the AI era
How AI fits this roadmap
AI is the product in this job. Clients ask you what AI can do for their business, what it will cost to run and where it will fail, and then want a working first version. This roadmap teaches you to build with AI coding assistants every week and to check what they write, and to scope, build, test and explain AI systems such as document question answering and tool-using agents.
The main project
ClientPilot
A made-up client engagement that you take from a first call and a scoping document to a working AI assistant over the client's documents, with tests, a cost estimate and a handover pack.
What you will be able to do
- 01
Turn a vague client request into a written scope with goals, data needs, risks, a test plan and a cost estimate for running the system.
- 02
Build a working prototype that calls a large language model through an API, with prompts, structured output and error handling you wrote and understand.
- 03
Build a question-answering assistant over a set of documents that shows its sources, and measure its answers against a test set you wrote.
- 04
Build an agent that uses tools, and write down where it fails, how you limit what it can do and when a person must approve.
- 05
Deliver a handover pack with a demo, a README, an evaluation report, a running-cost sheet and a plan for the next phase.
01The route
Five months, one month at a time.
Each month ends in a milestone project, so you always have something to show for the work.
Month 1 · Weeks 1–4
Working with AI tools and the consulting basics
Python, Git and the command line, with an AI coding assistant set up in week 1. You learn to read its diffs, test what it writes and keep a log of what you accepted and rejected. You also learn to run a discovery call and write a scope.
MilestoneA scoping document for ClientPilot and a small tested Python tool, with your log of AI suggestions you accepted and rejected
Month 2 · Weeks 5–8
Building with language model APIs
Calling model APIs from the Claude and OpenAI platforms, writing prompts, getting structured output and handling errors, limits and cost. You learn what a model does well, where it makes things up and how to show that to a client.
MilestoneA command-line prototype that extracts structured data from client documents, with tests and a cost-per-run estimate
Month 3 · Weeks 9–12
Documents, retrieval and evaluation
Splitting documents, embeddings and search, then answers that cite their sources. You write a test set of real questions, using your AI assistant to suggest extra ones that you then check by hand, and score the assistant against it, so you can say how good it is and not guess.
MilestoneA document question-answering assistant with source links and a written evaluation report
Month 4 · Weeks 13–16
Agents, tools and safe limits
Function calling and tool use, an agent built with LangGraph or your own loop, and limits on what it may do. You cover approvals, logging, data privacy and prompt injection, and you test the agent on tasks it should refuse.
MilestoneA tool-using agent added to ClientPilot, with a risk list, an approval step and logs of its test runs
Month 5 · Weeks 17–20
Handover, demo and job search
Put the web demo and API behind a simple deployment, write the running-cost sheet and handover pack, and practise the client demo. Then portfolio, interview preparation and applications.
MilestoneA deployed demo, a full handover pack and a working job-search pipeline
03What is inside
Everything a week comes with.
Every week is built the same way, so once you have done one you know how all of them work.
- 01
One project, ClientPilot
You grow one client engagement from a first call to a working AI assistant, so every tool and idea lands in something real.
- 02
A day-by-day plan
Each week has a Learn part and a Do part, with a checklist so you know when you are done. Most weeks include a task to do with an AI assistant and a step to check its work.
- 03
A project in every milestone
Five milestones, each ending in something you can show and link to.
- 04
Reference topics
Short topic pages with check questions you can come back to.
- 05
A job track
Interview practice, portfolio and resume help, and an application plan.
- 06
Progress in your Study plan
Add weeks to your Study plan, give them dates, and finished days are counted for you.
04Is it for you
Who this is, and is not, for.
Better to know before you start than six weeks in.
It is for you if
- You can write small programs, ideally in Python, and want client-facing AI work rather than research.
- You are a developer, analyst, product person or consultant moving into AI solutions and want to be strong with AI tools.
- You can give about 30 hours a week for five months, so this is a serious part-time plan.
It is not for you if
- You have never written code. Do a beginner programming course first.
- You want a job guarantee. Nobody can promise that, and this roadmap does not.
- You want to train new models from scratch. This roadmap builds on existing models.
- You want to paste AI output to a client without reading it. This roadmap trains you to check it.
?Questions
Before you start
- Is this roadmap ready?
- Not yet. This is the plan. The weeks are being written and checked against current job postings and official documentation. Leave your email and we will write to you when it opens.
- What will it cost?
- The price is not set. Roadmaps are bought once, with no subscription. We will announce it when this one opens.
- Will the plan change?
- It may. Before the weeks are written we check the tools against current job postings, so the lengths and months here are planned, not final.
- Will it get me a job?
- It will give you skills and proof of work. It cannot promise a job on a fixed date, because hiring depends on the market, your location and your past work.
- Do I need to pay for model APIs?
- Later, probably a little. The build weeks call model APIs, which are usually billed by use. The roadmap will show how to keep the bill small and will say which parts work on free plans once the weeks are written.
Not open yet
Leave your email and we will write once, when it opens.