CODEX
What should we learn from the short-lived career of Data Scientists?
I am arguing here that within a handful of years, Data Scientists will become just Software Engineers (SWEs). Just like Front-end and Back-end engineers, we will have Machine Learning Engineers (MLEs). However, in this post, I want to make sure that we will learn the right lessons from their short-lived career.
Before the two careers merge, they had different histories, different practices, and different cultures. So, let me first shed some light on those differences.
A Path-dependent Process
The term “Path dependence” is used in the history of economics. When there are two groups, each go through different historic events, and consequently take different actions, the two groups end up having two different economies. No matter how small and insignificant the different actions they took, these different paths lead to different destinations.
Today, I want to argue that software engineers and machine learning engineers also went through path dependent processes and ended up having different cultures.
By the end of the 20’s century, the software industry became mature enough, and the need for the product manager role was created. The product managers understand the business and the customer needs…
