Advancing AI and Data Expertise Through Structured Specialisation: Accelerating AI Consulting at EY

Based in Dublin, Ekaterina Stirling is an Assistant Manager in AI and Data at EY, with over seven years of experience across technology, data, and analytics.

As her work increasingly spans complex, fast-moving client engagements, Ekaterina chose to pursue the Postgraduate Diploma in Data Science with the Data Science Institute to further strengthen her technical toolkit. The programme's structured and progressive design — moving from strong foundations into advanced modelling and applied data science — has provided a cohesive framework that complements and enhances her existing expertise.

A particular highlight has been the practical coding workshops, which support deeper technical fluency and reinforce best-practice implementation approaches. The emphasis on applied learning has enabled Ekaterina to translate new techniques directly into client work, contributing to more robust solutions, sharper analytical choices, and confident delivery across engagements.

Experienced professionals can use the right academic programme not to revisit fundamentals, but to deepen expertise, sharpen execution, and accelerate impact.

Building on the diploma, Ekaterina will continue into the MSc, where her research project will focus on natural language processing and unstructured data — an area with growing real-world relevance for AI consulting, combining statistical rigour with modern machine learning methods.

Her journey reflects how experienced professionals can use the right academic programme not to revisit fundamentals, but to deepen expertise, sharpen execution, and accelerate impact in advanced data and AI roles.