Software Engineering Intern, AI Strategy & Transformation

Korn Ferry • Chicago, IL

5h

About The Position

We are seeking a motivated Software Engineer Intern to join Korn Ferry’s AI Strategy & Transformation team. Working closely with data scientists, product managers, psychometricians, and platform engineers, the intern will help design, prototype, and deliver full-stack applications and production-facing software that support ML/GenAI experiments and people-analytics products. This is a hands-on, learning-focused role: you will build front-end UIs, backend services and integration layers, and receive mentorship on software engineering and cloud deployment best practices. Why join us We’re a small, tight-knit team inside Korn Ferry that encourages moving fast, thinking big, and creating real business value. On the AI Strategy & Transformation team you’ll work at the intersection of people science and cutting-edge AI to glean the most actionable insights from complex data. Our work has high-visibility: you’ll collaborate directly with senior product and business leaders, contribute to decisions that influence Korn Ferry’s offerings, and see your ideas go from notebook to production. Our Data Korn Ferry maintains a rich collection of people and assessment data (psychometric assessments, multi-rater tools, a pay database, talent movement and organizational datasets). As an engineering intern, you’ll work with these datasets indirectly via secure APIs and data pipelines and learn how software and services enable robust, ethical, and scalable people-analytics solutions. Context of the Role This internship offers practical experience building and shipping full-stack components that enable ML/AI workflows and data products. The intern will focus on prototyping productionized features, integrating ML models and data services, and ensuring solutions meet quality, security, and privacy standards. Work will emphasize collaboration with data science colleagues to turn experiments into maintainable, deployable software that delivers business value.

Requirements

• Currently pursuing a Bachelors, Master’s or PhD in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Data Science, or a closely related discipline.
• Strong programming skills in JavaScript and Python ; experience building web UIs (React or comparable frameworks) and backend services.
• Familiarity with RESTful APIs (or GraphQL), JSON, and web application fundamentals (HTTP, authentication).
• Experience with relational or NoSQL databases (Postgres, MySQL, MongoDB, or similar) and writing efficient queries.
• Knowledge of Git/GitHub workflows (commits, branches, pull requests) and collaborative software development.
• Strong problem-solving skills, good communication, and ability to work collaboratively on multidisciplinary teams.
• 0–2 years of professional or research experience (research assistantships, internships, capstones, and thesis projects count).

Nice To Haves

• Experience with TypeScript + React ecosystem (hooks, state management, component libraries) and CSS frameworks.
• Familiarity with Azure (App Services, Functions, AKS)
• Exposure to MLOps concepts, model serving (TorchServe, TensorFlow Serving, or custom inference), and Azure ML or SageMaker.
• Knowledge of security, data privacy best practices, and GDPR/ethical considerations for working with sensitive HR/assessment data.
• Experience with serverless architectures, microservices, or Kubernetes is a plus.
• Prior internships, research assistantships, or projects that demonstrate building and shipping production-quality software.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement front-end interfaces (React/TypeScript) and responsive UIs that help stakeholders explore ML/AI outputs and data visualizations.
• Build and maintain backend services and APIs (Node.js/Express, Python/Flask or FastAPI) to serve models, orchestrate data flows, and provide secure data access.
• Integrate ML/GenAI prototypes into application stacks (inference endpoints, model wrappers, model caching and batching) in collaboration with data scientists.
• Implement authentication, authorization, data access controls, and follow data governance policies when handling sensitive information.
• Package and containerize applications (Docker), and help deploy services to cloud environments (Azure App Services).
• Contribute to CI/CD pipelines, automated testing (unit/integration), and code quality tooling (linters, type checks).
• Implement logging, monitoring, and basic observability to help troubleshoot performance and reliability issues in prototypes.
• Write clear documentation, README files, and handoff artifacts (architecture notes, deployment runbooks) for engineering and data-platform teams.
• Participate in code reviews, sprint ceremonies, and regular one-on-one mentorship meetings to iterate quickly and learn best practices.

What This Job Offers

• Career Level: Intern
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees