What AI skills are actually worth learning for a career in finance?
AI is becoming part of almost every discussion around finance, but I'm curious about how much of it is actually useful for people working in investment banking, equity research, asset management, FP&A, or other finance roles.
There seems to be a huge number of AI courses available now, covering everything from prompt engineering and Generative AI to Python, machine learning, automation, and data science.
My question for people already working in finance is:
If you were starting from scratch today, what AI or technical skills would you actually prioritise?
Would you focus on:
- Python and data analysis
- Machine learning fundamentals
- Generative AI and LLMs
- AI tools for financial research and modelling
- Workflow automation
- Something else entirely?
Also, do you think taking a structured short-term course is worthwhile, or is self-learning through projects and real-world applications enough?
Interested to hear from people who are already using AI in their day-to-day work and what skills have actually provided value rather than just looking good on a CV.
I'm also involved with Edoxi Training Institute, where we offer short-term AI courses, so I'm particularly interested in understanding what finance professionals actually expect from AI training and which skills they find useful in practice.
I came across this overview of AI skills for professionals while researching the topic. It raises an interesting question about whether finance professionals should focus on technical skills such as Python and machine learning or more applied areas such as AI automation, RAG and AI governance.
