> The professionals I've met actually working in ML R&D have basically all been very technically competent, including in mathematics.
Competent at math can mean many different things. Have they taken higher level courses in statistics, probability, optimization and control theory? If not I'd say that they aren't technically competent at math that is relevant to their field, and in my experience most don't know those things.
Competent at math can mean many different things. Have they taken higher level courses in statistics, probability, optimization and control theory? If not I'd say that they aren't technically competent at math that is relevant to their field, and in my experience most don't know those things.