A new Montreal-based platform wants to connect upcoming data scientists and engineers to real-world internship opportunities.
Talent4AI recently launched with the goal of helping both college and university students find paid internships in fields related to AI. The goal is to help industry recruiters and researchers better handle applications, including searching for candidates, selection, onboarding, performance evaluation during the internship, and conducting post-internship evaluation.
“Far from stabilizing, the demand for talent in data science and engineering is showing growth that is greatly outpacing supply.”
The program is hoping to tackle the challenge of creating enough artificial intelligence talent to support demand. According to analysis from Element AI’s Global Talent report for this year, the supply of AI talent does not meet the demand.
One of the notable aspects of Talent4AI’s program is its focus beyond Canada.
“The vast majority of industry and research stakeholders agree that the biggest challenge in artificial intelligence today is a talent challenge. Far from stabilizing, the demand for talent in data science and engineering is showing growth that is greatly outpacing supply,” said Francis Beaulieu, co-founder of Talent4AI. “Talent4AI is a global response to this reality. We are looking beyond borders to find candidates not only in Canada, but also in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, and the United States.”
Internship opportunities can be found in industries like healthcare, environment, government, and security. The program is currently in phase one until October.
“Our priority for phase one, which is ongoing until early October, is to collect as many quality student profile applications as possible in the Montreal, Toronto/Waterloo, Ottawa, Quebec, and Sherbrooke regions,” said Awaleh Godad, co-founder of Talent4AI.
Once the platform has collected enough student profiles, the Talent4AI hub will be accessible to Canadian industries and researchers during for phase two. Talent4AI stated that it plans to pursue its development internationally through bilateral partnerships with different student and academic communities in more than 20 countries.
Image via Unsplash
