Software For All
AI Bootcamp
Turning AI and software skills into real jobs.
What is it?
Closing the gap between AI skills and AI jobs
Demand for AI-enabled software skills is growing rapidly across Northern Ireland. Yet employers can struggle to find and shape entry-level talent with the right skills, while individuals can find it difficult to turn their training, qualifications and potential into meaningful employment.
The AI Bootcamp is designed to bridge that gap.
Employers
For employers who have software-related placements suitable for a software graduate/student
01
AI Bootcamp
Equiping individuals with practical AI skills.
Our two-week AI Bootcamp in January equips software-related students and recent graduates with the technical, commercial, and customer-focused skills needed in an AI-enabled workplace.
02
Connect with your next potential hire
See what individuals can do.
Advertise a suitable software-related role and interview participants who complete the bootcamp. There’s no obligation to hire; you only offer a paid, temporary role lasting at least 16 weeks if you find the right candidate.
What's involved?
Meet emerging talent ready to contribute in an AI-enabled workplace.
Our two-week AI Bootcamp in January equips software-related students and recent graduates with the technical, commercial, and customer-focused skills needed in an AI-enabled workplace.
Your organisation can interview participants who complete the bootcamp and offer a suitable candidate a paid, temporary role lasting at least 16 weeks.
Local talent, built for what's next
This talent is job-ready, Northern Ireland-based, and matched to roles that matter to you. Candidates arrive ready to contribute from day one.
A low-risk way to access new AI talent
With a minimum 16-week full-time placement commitment, it's a low-risk way to bring brilliant new talent into your organisation and see what they can do.
Connect. Collaborate. Grow.
Join like-minded employers and raise your profile with Northern Ireland’s emerging software and AI workforce.
What's involved?
5 Simple Steps
Step 1
Are you eligible?
Find out if your organisation is eligible to take part in the project
Create an entry-level software role on the Workplus platform or send us your vacancy link
Step 4
Shortlist & Interview
Shortlist and interview AI Bootcamp graduates after 15 January
Step 5
Job offer
If you identify a suitable candidate for your role, offer them a min 16 week placement, starting no later than August 2027
Uncover the risks before you recruit
A fast but strategic employer diagnostic. Before you recruit a graduate or placement student, uncover the hidden risks that could undermine the hire and build a role that genuinely lets early-career talent thrive.
ICX (Inter-Company Exchange) is a series of monthly peer-learning sessions where software companies of all sizes come together to learn, share and explore how AI is reshaping software development. Through live demonstrations and deep dives, the sessions cover AI tooling, the software development lifecycle, team structures, skills and the challenges of adopting and scaling AI across organisations.
FAQ's
You've got questions. We've got answers.
What is the Software For All Bootcamp?
An employer-led programme creating real, AI-enabled entry-level jobs across Northern Ireland, connecting SMEs who need entry-level talent with candidates ready to work in AI-native software roles.
Who is the AI Bootcamp for?
To be eligible to be considered for the bootcamp, Indviduals must:
Must be currently enrolled in a software-related bachelor’s or master’s degree programme at a Northern Ireland university or college, or have graduated from one in 2024 or later.
Not currently in full-time employment in a software role.
Be available to attend the in-person bootcamp during 4-15 January 2027.
Have an existing right to work in the UK.
Be available to take up a relevant employment placement lasting at least 16 weeks following the bootcamp, or on completion of your final year of study.
Apply through the Workplus platform before 12 noon on Friday 13 November.
What is the bootcamp content?
Week one rotates participants through five pillars, Engineering, AI, Product, Sales & commercial, and Marketing & distribution, working in pods inside a fictional business. Week two puts them to work on a real, anonymised employer challenge: a discovery clinic and build plan on Monday, building with AI-native tools Tuesday to Thursday, then demonstrating their work on Friday.
Am I eligible as an employer to hire someone from the AI Bootcamp?
You'll need an operating base in Northern Ireland and the ability to create at least one entry-level software-related placement for a minimum of 16 weeks, full-time (paid). You'll need to register your interest, confirming that you will advertise the role on the Software For All platform and commit to reviewing applications and interviewing candidates.
What is the commitment for employers?
Employers participating in the project commit to:
Sign up, noting they have a minimum 16-week full-time placement starting no later than August 2027
Advertise an eligible role on the SoftwareForAll platform
Reviewing applications and interviewing candidates
There is no obligation to offer a placement if no suitable candidate is found.
What kind of roles are suitable?
Roles suitable for someone in or who has graduated from a software-related degree.
Roles that offer a paid employment placement of at least 16 weeks with a start date between February - August.
Who pays for what?
The bootcamp is fully funded, so there is no cost to employers or candidates for the training. If your organisation chooses to hire a candidate after the bootcamp, you will be responsible for paying their salary or wages and any associated employment costs.
Funded by
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