Microsoft and CMU team up to train early career software engineers

The idea for the program came about following CMU alumnus Mark Russinovich's (ENG 1989, 1994) visit to SCS in October 2025. The chief technology officer, deputy chief information security officer and technical fellow for Microsoft Azure spoke about how AI tools help senior engineers, but noted that the same level of benefit isn't available for junior engineers.

"AI changes the work, but it doesn't eliminate the need for junior engineers or for human judgment and accountability," Russinovich said. "By combining Microsoft's engineering experience with CMU's academic expertise, PRAISE offers a model we're proud to lead and hope others in industry and academia will adopt."

From that discussion, SCS and Microsoft began considering how education could help junior engineers overcome the challenges of using AI in the workplace.

"It used to be that early career software engineers would do a lot of tasks that would build up their expertise," said Michael Hilton, a teaching professor in CMU's Software and Societal Systems Department (S3D). "Combining forces between academics and practitioners allows us to bring our expertise together and create solutions that draw on computer science research while standing up to the daily realities of software development."

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

"That judgment for when to use AI should be viewed as ongoing education, which is why we're partnering with Carnegie Mellon University on curriculum as part of the PRAISE program," Microsoft wrote in their announcement of the partnership. "The intent is to set students up for success in the workplace and accelerate preceptees with formal curricula to complement the guidance from the preceptor on how to build and deliver with confidence."

In the spring semester, students will take DevOps: Engineering for Secure Development and Deployment and the second half of the Preceptorship in AI-Augmented Software Engineering course sequence. These courses can be applied to a master's degree in software engineering, allowing students to further their learning at SCS. CMU hopes to grow the program and add more students to the certificate program, perhaps one day opening the door to other industry partners.

"I am tremendously excited about the impact this program will have on junior engineers at Microsoft," said Jonathan Aldrich, an S3D professor who directs the PRAISE certificate program. "With so many companies worldwide faced with upheaval due to AI in software development, I believe this program will become a template for rapidly leveling up new developers across the industry."

To learn more about the program, visit Microsoft's Command Line.