How to become a data scientist

Official title: Data scientist

Also called: Chief data scientist, Data Scientist/AI Scientist, Head of Data Analytics, Head of Data Science and AI, Ÿ Chief data scientist

Data scientist develops and implements techniques and analytics applications to transform raw data into meaningful information using data-oriented programming languages and visualisation software. He/she applies data mining, data modelling, natural language processing, and machine learning to extract and analyse information from large structured and unstructured datasets. He/she also visualises, interprets, and reports data findings and may create dynamic data reports as well.

Main tasks

• Evaluating, processing, analysing, and interpreting statistical data and preparing them for publication
• Advising on or applying various data collection methods and statistical methods and techniques, and determining reliability of findings, especially in such fields as business or medicine as well as in other areas of natural, social or life sciences
• Preparing scientific papers and reports, including those in the form of visualisations such as graphs, charts, and dashboards

Ways in

• University: Computing & IT degrees, Offered by 5 universities in Singapore
• University: Mathematics & Statistics degrees

Pay · Outlook · AI and this job

• Median pay: $108,564 a year. The middle half earn $82,680 to $145,584 a year.
• Generative AI could change many tasks in this job, which usually reshapes the work more than it replaces it, by the ILO's global estimate.

Related jobs

• Statistician
• Statistical officer/Data analyst
• Mathematician
• Operations research analyst
• Actuary

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Questions people ask

How do I become a data scientist?

Ways in include: Computing & IT degrees; Mathematics & Statistics degrees.

How much does a data scientist earn in Singapore?

Median full-time pay is $108,564 a year (Ministry of Manpower (via data.gov.sg)). The middle half earn $82,680 to $145,584.

Will AI change the work of a data scientist?

Generative AI could change many tasks in this job, which usually reshapes the work more than it replaces it, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

• Ministry of Manpower (via data.gov.sg): Resident Occupational Wages (Occupational Wage Survey) (June 2024 (data.gov.sg update 2026-04-01)), Singapore Open Data Licence v1.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
• International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Updated 4 October 2026