A quick note for anyone wondering whether they can skip parts of the roadmap — especially the math:
You don’t need to master every topic before moving forward, but each section plays a different role in your confidence later. Here’s the simple way to think about it:
- You can start building with LLMs right away — modern tools make that accessible even without deep math.
- But the math + ML foundations become important the moment you want to understand why models behave the way they do, or when you start debugging, fine‑tuning, or building anything beyond basic prototypes.
- Skipping early steps doesn’t block you, but it usually catches up with you later when things get more advanced.
So the roadmap isn’t a gatekeeping checklist — it’s just a sequence designed to prevent frustration down the line. People can absolutely move faster or slower depending on their background, and they’re free to use equivalent courses from any provider.
Hope that helps someone who’s trying to figure out where to begin.