Wasn’t the point of the data scientist/ML engineer that they could combine the software engineering skills with the statistical and knowledge know-how? Which is

Wasn’t the point of the data scientist/ML engineer that they could combine the software engineering skills with the statistical and knowledge know-how? Which is why they’re paid so much? If they can’t do the former, may as well just hire a software developer and a statistician for near-cheaper and have them work together - you save money and get better code.