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Software Developer
If you're currently a: Software engineer, web developer, QA engineer, DevOps, sysadmin
AI isn’t replacing developers, it’s reshaping what they build. The developers who thrive are the ones building AI-powered features, not just CRUD apps.
Timeline
4-8 months
Salary Range
$140-264K
Your first step
Install Cursor or Claude Code today and use it for your next project. Then build one full RAG pipeline, that single project will teach you more about AI engineering than any course. Most developer-to-AI-engineer transitions take 4-8 months of focused effort.
Skills to Learn
Roles to Target
Tools to Use
🖥️Cursor
Free (50 premium requests) / $20/mo Pro / $60/mo Pro+ / $200/mo Ultra / $40/user/mo Teams
🔗Claude Code
Usage-based via API / included with Claude Pro ($20/mo), Max 5x ($100/mo), Max 20x ($200/mo), and Team Premium ($100/seat/mo)
🤖GitHub Copilot
Free (2,000 completions/mo) / $10/mo Pro / $39/mo Pro+ / $19/user/mo Business / $39/user/mo Enterprise
💻LM Studio
Free
📦Ollama
Free and open-source (self-hosted) / Ollama Cloud: Free / $20/mo Pro / $100/mo Max