GCP Vertex AI

Vertex AI is Google's unified machine learning platform. Train models (tabular, images, text), deploy as scalable endpoints, monitor performance. Integrate with BigQuery (data source), Cloud Storage (data), and other GCP services. Handles the full ML lifecycle: data preparation → training → evaluation → deployment → monitoring. ML is becoming essential. Companies need models to compete (personalization, prediction, automation). Vertex AI abstracts complexity: no need to manage Kubernetes clusters for training, model serving is handled. Senior practitioners earn 20-30% premium because ML is scarce and high-value.