Lessons from the AI Talent Acquisition Bootcamp: Building an early-career tech talent pipeline

The Talent Acquisition Bootcamp offered by the AI Center for Government is designed to help government agencies attract, hire, retain and train new talent to strengthen AI capacity. Through this program, participants learn to develop and apply tailored strategies to help build strong early career AI talent pipelines. The strategies we share throughout the Bootcamp align with public sector workforce needs and provide a framework for hiring and retaining employees with technical skills and mission motivation in public service. Those strategies can be broadly adapted across all levels of government hiring.

Key tips for developing a successful government talent acquisition program include:

Use internship programs to build your agency’s AI workforce

Internship programs are one of the most effective ways to identify and develop early career AI talent. When government agencies invest in internship programs, it creates opportunities for those early in their careers to build valuable skills and establishes a pipeline for developing full-time employees. According to a National Association of Colleges and Employers report in 2025, 75.5% of paid interns who accepted a job with the same employer were still employed there one year later. Interns who have meaningful internship experiences are more likely to want to stay with their agency and advance their career.

How to create a meaningful internship experience?

• Dedicated supervision. A dedicated supervisor serves as the gateway to connections across the office, supports professional development and provides regular feedback to support an intern’s growth.
• Mission-aligned work. Successful AI internships give early career employees the opportunity to build new skills and support an agency’s strategic goals. For AI specific roles, intern projects might focus on using AI tools in daily workflows, conducting AI policy research or supporting technical IT functions with modernization efforts.
• Connect the dots. AI internships provide an opportunity for interns to learn how government agencies are responding to this rapidly changing and growing technology so they can create efficiencies in their work.

Identify AI skill gaps through workforce planning

Many government agencies are considering how to invest in AI and how it can support their workforce. Hiring early career talent is most effective when it is connected to workforce planning.

For successful workforce planning, hiring managers and human resource professionals should:

• Collaborate with departments to identify skill gaps in the workforce
• Determine the specific skills needed to meet an agency’s AI priorities
• Facilitate opportunities to improve the skills of current staff
• Deliberately define “AI talent” and determine what competencies are needed for an early career professional.

This approach helps teams identify effective sourcing channels for new talent and develop position descriptions that attract individuals with the skills needed to get the job done. When sourcing early career AI talent, agencies should look to traditional pipelines at universities, community colleges and professional associations as well as nontraditional paths including apprenticeship programs, technical bootcamps and other skills-based hiring programs.

Promote your agency’s brand

Many recent graduates and early career professionals are looking for an opportunity to align their skills to work that has purpose. Government offers a great career for those who are interested in mission-driven work and agencies should use this to their advantage. To attract early career AI employees, government agencies should consider how they communicate the impact of AI roles and highlight the unique projects an employee could work on. Beyond purpose, government should promote the benefits and training opportunities in the public sector since those early in their careers are motivated to find stable employment.

How can agencies promote their brand to early career talent?

• Share work on social media
• Use online job platforms to amplify openings
• Host information sessions with campus or community organizations
• Build relationships with networks where talent is located

There are many industries eager to hire those early in their careers with AI skills. Government agencies should actively promote their brand to ensure potential employees know they can build a meaningful career in the public sector.

Connect talent to the mission and culture

Once government agencies hire early career talent with AI skills, the next priority should be finding ways to retain these employees.

Proven retention strategies include:

• Structured onboarding processes for new hires. This is critical to connecting new employees with the mission of the organization and to the workplace culture.
• Mentorship. Providing new hires with mentors helps them build relationships and understand team norms.
• Expectation setting. Supervisors should host regular check-ins with clear feedback and expectations.
• Professional Development. New hires should be given regular opportunities to develop their skills through technical training and professional development workshops. When new employees see a path to grow and how their AI skills connect with the mission, agencies are more likely to retain those individuals they worked hard to recruit.

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Want to learn more about the Talent Acquisition Bootcamp? Check out our new program page!

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Continuing the conversation

The AI Center for Government® champions AI innovators across all levels of government. If your agency is working to lead AI well, we’d love to hear from you. Join us as we highlight real-world AI use cases and convene public sector leaders from across the country to share tools and insights to lead confidently in the age of AI.

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