8 Best-Selling AI Optimization Books Millions Love

Explore AI Optimization books endorsed by Kirk Borne, Principal Data Scientist at Booz Allen, and Adam Gabriel, AI Expert and Machine Learning Engineer, showcasing proven, best-selling works.

Kirk Borne
Adam Gabriel Top Influencer
Updated on June 28, 2025
We may earn commissions for purchases made via this page

There's something special about books that both critics and crowds love, especially in a field as dynamic as AI Optimization. The surge in AI-driven technologies makes optimizing algorithms not just a niche skill but a vital one for developers, researchers, and engineers worldwide. These books represent widely adopted approaches that have empowered countless professionals to navigate complex optimization problems effectively.

Experts like Kirk Borne, Principal Data Scientist at Booz Allen, whose work bridges astrophysics and data science, highlight texts such as "Optimization" by Rajesh Kumar Arora for its balance of practical application and algorithmic depth. Meanwhile, Adam Gabriel, an AI expert and machine learning engineer, echoes this endorsement, underscoring the relevance of these resources to practitioners aiming for tangible improvements in AI model performance.

While these popular books provide proven frameworks, readers seeking content tailored to their specific AI Optimization needs might consider creating a personalized AI Optimization book that combines these validated approaches with customized guidance, matching unique backgrounds and goals.

Best for engineers applying diverse algorithms
Kirk Borne, Principal Data Scientist at Booz Allen with a PhD in astrophysics, highlights this book as a crucial resource spanning optimization to prescriptive analytics, reflecting his deep engagement with data science and AI. His recommendation, "From #Optimization to #PrescriptiveAnalytics — #abdsc by @WilliamVorhies", underscores how Arora’s practical approach aligns with Borne’s experience applying algorithms across big data and machine learning challenges. This endorsement, coming from a leading figure in data science, offers you assurance that the book’s blend of theory and MATLAB coding examples can sharpen your skills for tackling AI optimization problems effectively. Alongside Borne, Adam Gabriel, an AI expert and machine learning engineer, echoes this praise, suggesting the book’s relevance to practitioners eager to deepen their algorithmic toolkit.
KB

Recommended by Kirk Borne

Principal Data Scientist at Booz Allen

From #Optimization to #PrescriptiveAnalytics — #abdsc by @WilliamVorhies #BigData #DataScience #AI #Statistics #MachineLearning #Mathematics #Algorithms #ORMS What is the best book? … …Get the book: (from X)

2015·466 pages·Optimization, Algorithms, AI Optimization, Optimization Algorithsm, Gradient Methods

Rajesh Kumar Arora draws on over twenty years of aerospace engineering experience at the Indian Space Research Organization to guide you through optimization techniques that prioritize practical understanding over heavy math. You’ll explore algorithms like particle swarm optimization, genetic algorithms, and sequential quadratic programming, with clear MATLAB code examples that tackle real-world problems such as robotic trajectory design and portfolio optimization. The book is ideal for engineers and data scientists who want hands-on skills in solving complex, multi-objective optimization challenges without getting lost in theory. While it’s technical, Arora’s methodical approach helps you build confidence applying diverse algorithms to both academic and industrial contexts.

View on Amazon
Best for researchers deepening ML optimization
Suvrit Sra is an expert in optimization and machine learning, with a focus on developing novel algorithms for extracting knowledge from data. His deep expertise and research background uniquely position him to write about the vital interplay between optimization and machine learning. This book reflects his commitment to making complex optimization techniques accessible and relevant to those pushing the boundaries of AI development.
Optimization for Machine Learning (Neural Information Processing Series) book cover

by Suvrit Sra, Sebastian Nowozin, Stephen J. Wright··You?

2011·494 pages·AI Optimization, Optimization, Optimization Algorithsm, Optimization Algorithms, Convex Relaxations

What if everything you knew about optimization was challenged by the evolving needs of machine learning? Suvrit Sra and his co-authors bring a rigorous perspective to this intersection, exploring advanced optimization techniques tailored for modern machine learning challenges. You’ll gain insight into methods like first-order and second-order techniques, stochastic approximations, and regularized optimization, all explained with a balance of theory and practical relevance. This book suits you if you’re a researcher or student aiming to deepen your understanding of how optimization algorithms underpin machine learning models and drive their performance.

View on Amazon
Best for custom optimization plans
This AI-created book on AI optimization is crafted based on your unique background and specific problem-solving goals. By sharing your skill level and areas of interest, you receive a book that focuses precisely on the optimization approaches most relevant to your challenges. This personalized approach helps you cut through generic content and dive into methods that truly matter for your work.
2025·50-300 pages·AI Optimization, Optimization Algorithms, Problem Solving, Algorithm Tuning, Stochastic Methods

This tailored book explores battle-tested AI optimization approaches designed to tackle complex, real-world problems with precision and efficiency. It covers a variety of AI-driven techniques that have been validated by millions of readers, focusing closely on your unique background, interests, and goals. By matching your specific needs, it reveals how to apply well-established optimization methods in ways that resonate with your challenges and learning preferences. Through a personalized journey into AI optimization, the book examines foundational concepts alongside advanced applications, ensuring you gain a rich understanding of the subject. It encourages exploration of diverse optimization strategies while connecting them directly to scenarios you care about, enhancing both your knowledge and practical insight.

Tailored Guide
Optimization Mastery
1,000+ Happy Readers
Best for advanced evolutionary computing users
Dan Simon is a professor at Cleveland State University specializing in electrical and computer engineering, with research spanning control theory and computer intelligence. His extensive background underpins this detailed exploration of evolutionary optimization algorithms, blending theory with practical programming insights. This book draws on his teaching experience to guide you through complex AI optimization concepts with clarity and rigor.

Dan Simon is a professor with deep expertise in electrical and computer engineering, which clearly informs his meticulous approach to evolutionary algorithms in this book. You gain a solid understanding of how nature-inspired processes like genetic algorithms and ant colony optimization can be harnessed for AI optimization challenges. The book walks you through both the theory and hands-on implementation, including advanced topics like Markov modeling, with accessible examples and online code to support your learning. This makes it especially useful if you’re an advanced student or professional aiming to apply evolutionary computing concepts in engineering or computer science.

View on Amazon
Best for Python developers modeling optimization
Serge Kruk, PhD, a professor at Oakland University with extensive industry experience at Bell-Northern Research, brings decades of practical expertise to this book. His background designing optimization software and telecommunication protocols clearly informs the text’s focus on implementable models using Python and Google OR-Tools. This blend of academic and real-world experience makes it a resource grounded in practicality, ideal for those who want to translate mathematical theory into working AI optimization projects.
2018·292 pages·AI Optimization, Mathematical Modeling, Python Programming, Linear Optimization, Integer Programming

Serge Kruk's work brings a practical edge to AI optimization by focusing on building executable mathematical models with Python and Google OR-Tools rather than dwelling on theory. You’ll learn to construct and analyze various optimization models, from linear continuous to integer models, with detailed explanations and runnable code samples. The book suits developers and students comfortable with Python who want to deepen their skills in applying optimization methods to real problems. For example, its inclusion of a random problem generator offers hands-on experience that bridges academic concepts and industry applications.

View on Amazon
Best for mathematicians mastering optimization theory
Jean Gallier is a renowned mathematician and educator, known for his expertise in linear algebra and optimization techniques. He has authored several influential texts in the field and has contributed significantly to the understanding of mathematical applications in machine learning. This book reflects his deep knowledge and teaching experience, offering readers a rigorous yet practical guide to optimization theory as it applies to machine learning.
2020·877 pages·Optimization, AI Optimization, Optimization Algorithsm, Linear Programming, Support Vector Machines

What started as a deep dive into linear algebra by Jean H Gallier evolved into a focused exploration of optimization theory tailored for machine learning applications. This volume unpacks complex concepts like the simplex algorithm, Karush-Kuhn-Tucker conditions, and Lagrangian duality with mathematical rigor, yet connects them directly to methods like support vector machines and ridge regression. You’ll gain a solid grasp of both the theory and practice behind optimization techniques essential for machine learning, supported by Matlab code examples to bridge concept and implementation. It’s best suited if you’re comfortable with advanced mathematics and want to deepen your understanding of optimization’s role in AI models.

View on Amazon
Best for personal action plans
This personalized AI book about AI optimization is created by AI based on your unique background, skill level, and goals. By sharing your current knowledge and specific topics of interest, you receive a book that focuses on accelerating your learning journey with targeted AI optimization concepts. It makes sense to customize because AI optimization covers many complex areas, and your tailored book zeroes in on exactly what you need to advance quickly and effectively. This approach saves you from wading through general texts and helps you build practical skills aligned with your ambitions.
2025·50-300 pages·AI Optimization, Algorithm Efficiency, Model Tuning, Stochastic Methods, Evolutionary Algorithms

This personalized AI Optimization book is crafted to focus on your unique interests and background, offering a tailored exploration of techniques that accelerate your learning journey. It examines core concepts in AI optimization, blending widely validated knowledge with your specific goals to create a focused learning path. The book covers foundational ideas like algorithm efficiency and model tuning, then progressively reveals specialized topics including stochastic methods and evolutionary algorithms that align with your experience and ambitions. By concentrating on your priorities, it helps you develop practical skills rapidly, turning complex optimization challenges into manageable, achievable steps. This personalized approach ensures an efficient and engaging learning experience dedicated to your success.

Tailored Guide
Performance Tuning
1,000+ Happy Readers
Guanghui Lan is a renowned expert in machine learning and optimization, with extensive experience in developing algorithms that enhance learning processes. His work focuses on stochastic optimization methods and their applications in artificial intelligence, making significant contributions to the field. This background uniquely positions him to guide you through both foundational concepts and recent advances in machine learning algorithms, providing clarity and depth in a complex subject area.
2020·595 pages·AI Optimization, Machine Learning, Learning Algorithms, Stochastic Methods, Nonconvex Optimization

Guanghui Lan challenges the conventional wisdom that machine learning optimization must be fragmented and inaccessible. Drawing on years of expertise, he offers a clear, tutorial-style progression from basics to advanced stochastic and first-order methods, including recent advances in randomized algorithms and nonconvex optimization. You’ll gain a grounded understanding of distributed learning and projection-free techniques, with detailed algorithmic insights that bridge theory and application. This book suits anyone delving deeply into machine learning algorithms, from AI researchers to mathematical programmers seeking a structured, up-to-date resource.

View on Amazon
Non-convex Optimization for Machine Learning offers a focused exploration of non-convex optimization techniques crucial to advancing AI Optimization. Its structured approach, blending foundational theory with targeted applications like sparse recovery and the EM algorithm, makes it a valuable pick for those seeking to enhance their machine learning toolkit. The book’s appeal lies in its balance of tutorial-style chapters and practical problem-solving, addressing a vital area in AI research and education.
2018·218 pages·AI Optimization, Machine Learning, Optimization, Convex Analysis, Non-Convex Methods

During their extensive research in machine learning, Prateek Jain and Purushottam Kar identified a gap in accessible resources on non-convex optimization. This book introduces foundational concepts of non-convex optimization alongside classical convex analysis, providing you with both theoretical frameworks and practical tools to tackle complex machine learning problems. You’ll find detailed chapters on sparse recovery and the EM algorithm, plus applications in signal processing that demonstrate how these methods solve real-world challenges. It's especially suited for those involved in machine learning or signal processing courses who want to deepen their understanding beyond standard convex optimization techniques.

View on Amazon
Best for practical genetic algorithm developers
Ivan Gridin is a mathematician, fullstack developer, and machine learning expert based in Moscow, with extensive experience in distributed systems and predictive time series modeling. His strong foundation in probability theory, machine learning, and optimization informs this guide on genetic algorithms, designed to empower your AI and machine learning projects. Drawing on deep programming knowledge and practical insights, Gridin crafted this book to help you integrate genetic algorithms seamlessly into complex, real-world applications.
2021·270 pages·AI Optimization, Genetic Algorithms, Evolutionary Computing, Python Programming, Machine Learning

When Ivan Gridin first delved into the challenges of optimizing AI models, he realized genetic algorithms offered a uniquely powerful approach. This book takes you through the essentials—from understanding selection, mutation, and crossover to applying these concepts in Python for real-world problems like scheduling and high-dimensional data optimization. You'll gain hands-on skills in building and tuning genetic algorithms, illustrated with practical examples such as radar and football manager scenarios. If you're part of a data science or AI engineering team looking to boost your model's performance, this book delivers targeted techniques without requiring deep prior machine learning experience.

View on Amazon

Proven AI Optimization Methods, Personalized

Get expert-backed AI Optimization strategies tailored to your unique challenges and goals.

Custom Strategy Design
Efficient Learning Path
Targeted Problem Solving

Validated by top experts and thousands of AI Optimization enthusiasts

Optimization Mastery Blueprint
30-Day AI Optimization Sprint
Strategic AI Optimization Foundations
AI Optimization Success Code

Conclusion

This collection of eight best-selling AI Optimization books distills key themes: practical algorithmic techniques, rigorous mathematical foundations, and hands-on applications in Python and machine learning. If you prefer proven methods blending theory with code, start with "Optimization" and "Practical Python AI Projects." For validated approaches in stochastic and evolutionary techniques, combine "First-order and Stochastic Optimization Methods for Machine Learning" with "Evolutionary Optimization Algorithms."

For tackling more advanced or specialized challenges, "Non-convex Optimization for Machine Learning" and "Learning Genetic Algorithms with Python" offer focused insights. Alternatively, you can create a personalized AI Optimization book to combine proven methods with your unique needs.

These widely-adopted approaches have helped many readers succeed in optimizing AI systems, equipping you with the knowledge to tackle real-world problems confidently and creatively.

Frequently Asked Questions

I'm overwhelmed by choice – which book should I start with?

Start with "Optimization" by Rajesh Kumar Arora if you want hands-on algorithmic skills with practical MATLAB examples. It’s approachable yet thorough, ideal for building a solid foundation.

Are these books too advanced for someone new to AI Optimization?

Some books, like "Practical Python AI Projects," are beginner-friendly with code examples, while others dive into advanced theory. You can pick based on your comfort level.

What's the best order to read these books?

Begin with foundational texts like "Optimization" and "Optimization for Machine Learning," then explore specialized topics such as evolutionary algorithms or stochastic methods.

Should I start with the newest book or a classic?

Balance both. Newer books offer updated methods, but classics like Arora’s "Optimization" remain relevant for solid fundamentals and practical applications.

Do these books assume I already have experience in AI Optimization?

Some expect familiarity with math and programming, like "Linear Algebra and Optimization with Applications to Machine Learning," while others provide entry points for newcomers.

How can I get AI Optimization insights tailored to my specific goals?

These expert books offer broad, proven methods. For guidance fit to your background and objectives, consider creating a personalized AI Optimization book that blends popular strategies with your unique needs.

📚 Love this book list?

Help fellow book lovers discover great books, share this curated list with others!