Microsoft and CMU Launch PRAISE Program to Train Junior Engineers in AI

How the PRAISE program works

The CMU/Microsoft PRAISE program lets early career Microsoft employees take online courses in CMU's Kenneth C. Griffin School of Computer Science (SCS) while receiving hands-on mentorship at the company. Selected early career engineers, called preceptees, work with senior engineering preceptors. The goal is to build AI-accelerated software engineering skills through structured guidance, mentorship and application to their daily Microsoft work.

Participants can also enroll in SCS classes focused on software engineering and artificial intelligence. One of them is Jace Watson, a software engineer at Microsoft who takes classes from Seattle rather than on the Pittsburgh campus. He said AI "wasn't a huge part of my education" and that he sought the program to learn how to fully take advantage of the tools he uses every day at work.

Where the idea came from

The program grew out of a visit to SCS in October 2025 by CMU alumnus Mark Russinovich, who is chief technology officer, deputy chief information security officer and technical fellow for Microsoft Azure. He spoke about how AI tools help senior engineers, but noted that junior engineers do not get the same level of benefit.

"AI changes the work, but it doesn't eliminate the need for junior engineers or for human judgment and accountability," Russinovich said. He added that PRAISE is "a model we're proud to lead and hope others in industry and academia will adopt."

Michael Hilton, a teaching professor in CMU's Software and Societal Systems Department (S3D), pointed to a shift in entry-level work. "It used to be that early career software engineers would do a lot of tasks that would build up their expertise," he said.

Courses and what comes next

This semester, Microsoft employees in the CMU PRAISE certificate program are taking Machine Learning in Production and Preceptorship in AI-Augmented Software Engineering I. The classes teach students how to incorporate machine learning into the software they write and how to use AI tools while developing it.

In the spring semester, students will take DevOps: Engineering for Secure Development and Deployment, plus the second half of the Preceptorship in AI-Augmented Software Engineering sequence. These courses can be applied to a master's degree in software engineering at SCS.

Microsoft, in its own announcement of the partnership, said that judgment about when to use AI "should be viewed as ongoing education."

What it means for the industry

CMU hopes to grow the program and add more students to the certificate, perhaps one day opening the door to other industry partners. SCS Dean Martial Hebert described the effort as a way to bring the school's computer science learning to people outside the traditional education system.

Jonathan Aldrich, an S3D professor who directs the certificate program, said that with so many companies worldwide facing upheaval from AI in software development, he believes the program "will become a template for rapidly leveling up new developers across the industry." The source does not give details on enrollment numbers or costs.