AI & Intelligence Internship - Winter/Spring '27

APCO is a global advisory and advocacy firm helping corporations, foundations, and governments navigate complex challenges and create lasting impact. The AI & Intelligence Intern will support the development and deployment of AI-powered solutions for advocacy campaigns, policy initiatives, reputation management, and strategic decision-making. The role includes building and testing machine learning models, training AI agents, analyzing datasets, and collaborating with cross-functional teams on client and internal initiatives.

What you'll do:

• Assist in building, training, and evaluating machine learning models using Python and relevant libraries (e.g., scikit-learn, TensorFlow, PyTorch)
• Support the development and fine-tuning of AI agents for tasks such as content generation, sentiment analysis, and predictive analytics including policy document analysis, stakeholder mapping, message optimization, and regulatory intelligence gathering
• Clean, organize, and analyze structured and unstructured datasets to extract insights from sources including social media platforms, news outlets, government databases, survey responses, and client-specific data repositories across energy, financial services, healthcare, technology, and other key sectors
• Train AI models on project specific datasets including social media data analysis, stakeholder communications, desk research reports, survey reports
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate AI solutions into broader campaign strategies working directly with strategists, account teams, and creative professionals on client deliverables for corporations, governments, and advocacy organizations
• Contribute to APCO’s custom Intelligence & AI solutions development, including bespoke "decision support command centers" for clients, integrating secure, proprietary data lakes with real-time feeds and custom dashboards
• Support the creation of AI-powered dashboards and tools for tracking project specific metrics
• Document model performance, testing results, and technical workflows
• Conduct research on emerging AI tools, techniques, and ethical considerations
• Contribute to brainstorming sessions and strategic planning around AI applications for client projects and internal strategic initiatives
• Perform other duties as assigned

What they're looking for:

• Recent college graduate or senior in class standing, preferably in computer science, data science, engineering, or a related field
• Some proficiency in Python and familiarity with machine learning frameworks with preferred experience in natural language processing libraries
• Demonstrated interest in artificial intelligence, data science, or computational modeling
• Interest in working with proprietary AI platforms and contributing to the development of custom intelligence solutions for high-stakes strategic advisory work
• Comfort in a fast-paced environment collaborating with a distributed team including working with non-technical stakeholders such as strategists, policy experts, and campaign managers
• Strong analytical thinking and problem-solving skills with ability to translate complex technical concepts for strategy and advocacy applications
• Organized and attentive to detail
• Able to multi-task and approach assignments independently
• Interest in current events, political processes, corporate communications, and the intersection of technology with public discourse across multiple sectors is a plus
• Interest in contributing to cuttingting-edge AI applications that combine human expertise with machine intelligence to solve complex challenges in corporate reputation, crisis management, policy advocacy, and stakeholder engagement
• Available to work 40 hours per week
• Requires US Work Authorization, unable to consider candidates with CPT/OPT/Post-OPT status

Benefits:

• On-the-job training
• Hybrid and flexible working environment, with opportunities to work from home and in the office
• Company laptop provided for working from home and in the office