If I Had to Start Over in AI, This Is What I'd Do

If I had to start learning AI from scratch in 2026, this is the path I would follow. The AI world is moving incredibly fast. New models, tools, frameworks and techniques appear constantly — and it's easy to end up learning everything randomly without knowing what actually matters. So I put together a one-year, 265-day roadmap designed to take you from the fundamentals of programming and software engineering to AI engineering, building real AI products, and eventually understanding the business side as well. In this video, we go through the complete journey — from the foundations to modern AI systems, including the concepts and tools that are shaping the AI ecosystem. The roadmap is designed to be flexible. Technologies will change, new approaches will emerge, and some tools will disappear. The goal isn't to memorize tools — it's to understand the fundamentals well enough to adapt. The objective isn't to learn everything. It's to become capable of building. The journey 🧱 Engineering Foundations 🤖 Machine Learning & Deep Learning 🧠 LLM Engineering 🔎 RAG & Retrieval ⚡ AI Agents & Automation 🖥️ Local AI & Open Models 🔌 MCP, APIs & Connectors 🏗️ Product Building 💰 Monetization & Business 🚀 Becoming an AI-native Builder And by the end, the goal is to go from: Problem → Idea → AI System → Product → Users → Revenue This is the roadmap I'm going to be following and evolving as the AI landscape changes. If you're building your AI skills alongside me, subscribe to ShadowCoder and follow the journey. This is just the beginning. #AI #AICareer #AIEngineer #ArtificialIntelligence #MachineLearning #LLM #RAG #AIAgents #AIEngineering #Programming #Tech #ShadowCoder