Towards an AI-Motivated Mathematical Skills Inventory for Future Engineers

In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has had a profound impact on various industries, including engineering, through innovations in optimization, automation, and predictive maintenance. To stay at the forefront of these changes, higher education institutions are increasingly embedding AI-oriented instruction into engineering programs to ensure curricula remain relevant. As AI reshapes the engineering landscape, an important question emerges: Are engineering students adequately equipped with the mathematical foundations and competencies necessary to effectively develop, fine-tune, deploy, and evaluate AI models? This work-in-progress paper addresses this question by proposing the development of a skills inventory tailored to linear algebra-a foundational mathematical concept for AI.