Udacity partners with WorldQuant for Artificial Intelligence for Trading Nanodegree Program

With demand for AI-proficient talent in the finance and trading rising exponentially, the lifelong learning platform will help candidates get the edge to succeed in the exciting domain of High-frequency Trading

New Delhi, August 3rd, 2018: Companies across the globe are getting serious about Artificial Intelligence (AI) across a wide range of industries, and innovators in the realms of finance and trading have been notable early adopters. With AI, finance and trading are entering a new era as the demand for data-powered traders continues to rise at a rapid pace. Udacity, the Silicon Valley-based lifelong learning platform, is committed to connecting industry-relevant learning to jobs – and is now looking to connect aspirants with the best new opportunities in the AI space. The platform has partnered with pioneering quantitative investment management firm WorldQuant to launch its new Artificial Intelligence for Trading Nanodegree program.

Over the last five years, the ability to analyse big data and interpret it meaningfully has become a more important part of any financial services tech job, and that’s doubly true of roles at quant hedge funds. According to a report by Accenture, banks and financial companies that invest in AI and human-machine collaboration tools could boost their revenue by over 34 percent by 2022. As the world’s companies look to AI to bolster their business, the demand for AI specialists has more than doubled over the last three years as per a study by Indeed Hiring Labs. In India, the demand for AI and machine learning talent is further expected to increase by 60 percent in 2018 according to various sources from the IT, banking, and financial services industries.

As a part of the Artificial Intelligence for Trading Nanodegree program, candidates will work with proprietary industry data in a suite of unique projects custom-designed with Udacity’s partners and industry professionals. In addition, they will also learn the basics of quantitative analysis, from data processing to portfolio management, as well as the application of advanced machine learning techniques such as natural language processing, recurrent neural networks, and random forest algorithms to generate trading signals. Further, candidates will also have the opportunity to advance their future careers by gaining access to top finance professionals and quant traders with experience in hedge funds, investments banks, and fintech.

Commenting on the launch, Ishan Gupta, Managing Director India, Udacity, said, “At Udacity, we identify and provide the training required to create the workforce of the future who can contribute to further developing nascent technologies, based on the requirement and demand for them in the market. The enormous growth in the demand for AI skills at the global level, particularly in the field of finance and trading, made the Artificial Intelligence for Trading program an obvious next addition to our Nanodegree offerings. We’ve worked closely with our partners at WorldQuant to ensure we leverage the unique competencies of these two organizations to offer students and professionals something really special with this program. The course we have created with their help will be the perfect vehicle to launch high-flying careers in this field of incredible potential.”

The Artificial Intelligence for Trading Nanodegree program is divided into two terms. In the first term, students will learn the basics of quantitative analysis, from data processing and trading signal generation to portfolio management. They will use Python to work with historical stock data, develop trading strategies, and construct a multi-factor model with optimization. In the second term, the focus will be on AI Algorithms for trading. In this term, students will work with alternative data and use machine learning to generate trading signals. They will be required to run back tests to evaluate their signals and use advanced techniques to combine the top performing signals. This real-world focus on practical industry-driven learning is the cornerstone of the program, and Udacity will ensure students gain valuable hands-on experience by providing a vast amount of proprietary industry data to work with, along with a suite of unique projects that have been custom-designed with the help of its partners and industry professionals. The Nanodegree Program will also feature an outstanding roster of talent to be Experts-In-Residence for the course, giving students the ability to engage in discussions and clear doubts with these highly-skilled practitioners.

 

About Udacity:

Udacity is a global lifelong learning platform connecting education to jobs and providing students with skills to advance careers. Udacity Nanodegree programs provide credentials earned through a series of online courses and projects in an array of subjects from self-driving cars and AI to data science and digital marketing. Udacity collaborates with more than 200 global employer-partners including AT&T, Google, Facebook, Mercedes-Benz and NVIDIA to close talent gaps. Headquartered in Mountain View, California, the privately-funded company has operations in India, Brazil, China, Egypt, Germany, and the United Arab Emirates. Its investors include Bertelsmann, Andreessen Horowitz, Charles River Ventures and Drive Capital. For more information, please visit in.udacity.com.

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