AI Engineer Intern– Entry Level Sales Program 2026
Role summary
IBM is seeking undergraduate and graduate students for an AI Engineer Intern role within its Client Engineering team for Summer 2026. This position combines technical skills with sales acumen, focusing on developing and deploying AI systems using the watsonx platform for enterprise-scale solutions. Interns will work on pre and post-sales pilots, optimize AI solution performance, collaborate with cross-functional teams, and stay updated on AI trends. The role requires a technical background in Computer Science or related fields, programming knowledge in Python, and strong communication and problem-solving skills. This is an onsite role requiring presence in one of IBM's specified offices.
Introduction
Technology sales at IBM is evolving its way of working to break beyond boundaries with innovative approaches. Preferring to 'show' vs. 'tell', we're looking for undergraduate and graduate students who want to combine their technical interests and education with the people skills needed to prospect and co-create with customers, partners, and colleagues on solutions to our clients' most complex business challenges.
In a world where technology moves at speed, it's essential that we stay ahead of the curve to provide tailored solutions that meet our clients' needs. It's not enough for us to have the technical expertise. We need to be great with people, too. To empathize. To understand. To collaborate on technical solutions that will improve lives all over the world.
This is a summer 2026 position. As an AI Engineer intern within our Client Engineering team, you'll harness your unique skills and perspectives to engage in the development and deployment of AI systems using our watsonx platform for pilots that lead to deployment of enterprise-scale solutions at start-up speed.
IBM’s Sales Internship Program culture will set you up for positive impact and success, whilst ongoing development will continually advance your skills. Our sales environment is collaborative and experiential. Part of a team, you'll be surrounded by bright minds – always willing to help– as you apply passion to work that will compel our clients to invest in IBM's products and services.
Your Role And Responsibilities
Being an AI Engineer Intern at IBM is not just a job title - it's a mindset. You'll leverage the watsonx platform to assist in co-creating AI value with clients, focusing on technology patterns to enhance repeatability and delight clients.
Success is our passion, and your accomplishments will reflect this, driving your career forward, propelling your team to success, and helping our clients thrive.
Your primary responsibilities will include, but not be limited to:
- Pre and Post Sales Pilots: Develop pilots to validate and highlight the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed AI solutions. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to implement and iterate on pilots, ensuring alignment with customer requirements and expectations while adhering to best practices and quality standards.
- Solution Optimization and Performance: Continuously monitor and optimize the performance of AI solutions, including foundation models and large language models. Identify opportunities to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and speed through fine-tuning, algorithmic improvements, or infrastructure optimization to meet performance requirements.
- Collaboration and Project Management: Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including AI engineers, platforms engineers, and members of the sales team, to ensure smooth execution and successful delivery of AI solutions. Effectively communicate project progress, risks, and dependencies to stakeholders.
- Industry Trends and Innovation: Stay up to date with the latest trends and advancements in AI, foundation models, and large language models. Evaluate emerging technologies, tools, and frameworks to assess their potential impact on solution design and implementation.
To Be Successful In This Role, You Will Need
- Confidence to contact and engage potential new customers and deliver an elevated experience.
- Motivation to achieve sales, business objectives and high client satisfaction.
- Strong analytic, problem solving, and troubleshooting skills combined with an agile process.
- Embrace curiosity and a growth mindset.
This position requires you to be in one of the following IBM offices: Atlanta GA, Austin TX, Chicago IL, Dallas TX, New York NY, Raleigh NC, San Francisco CA, and Washington DC.
Readiness to travel up to 50% annually.
~ IBM will not be providing visa sponsorship for this position now or in the future. Therefore, in order to be considered for this position, you must have the ability to work without a need for current or future visa sponsorship.
Preferred Education
Bachelor's Degree
Required Technical And Professional Expertise
- Actively Enrolled: Registered undergraduate or graduate university student.
- Education: Seeking B.S. or M.S. degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Math, Statistics, Engineering or equivalent technical degree/experience.
- Programming: Working knowledge in Python, R, Java or language in similar discipline.
- Tech Savvy: Conversant about AI technology, latest industry trends and how it is being applied to address business challenges.
- Team Player: Demonstrates team collaboration and can navigate different communication styles.
- Excellent Communication Skills: Possess verbal, written, and interpersonal skills that are engaging, compelling and influential.
- Self-Starter: Motivated to work with clients and can lead projects independently.
Preferred Technical And Professional Experience
- Knowledge of AI frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, Keras or Hugging Face.
- Experience with LLM and foundational models.
- Understanding in the usage of libraries such as SciKit Learn, Pandas, Matplotlib, etc.
- Familiarity with open-source technology, automation and legacy coding (Cobol, C, Assembler) is a plus.
Sample Ibm interview questions
- 1
Explain the difference between Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and Recurrent Neural Networks
technicalmedium - 2
Reverse a linked list
codingeasy - 3
Remove Duplicate Emails
codingmedium - 4
Move all zeros to the end of an array
codingeasy - 5
Merge Intervals
codingmedium
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