Data Engineer Intern (Buffalo)

Job Description

As an IBM Consulting FutureNow Center Intern, you will work alongside experienced professionals to help solve real business and technology challenges for clients worldwide. You will gain hands-on experience, build in-demand technical and professional skills, and contribute to meaningful projects in a collaborative, team-based environment. This internship is designed to provide meaningful, hands-on experience that prepares students for a potential full-time career with IBM Consulting upon graduation.

As an Intern Data Engineer at IBM, you will gain hands-on experience helping organizations transform data into actionable insights, automate business processes, and unlock the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) through enterprise technology solutions. You will work alongside experienced IBM professionals while developing practical technical, analytical, and problem-solving skills that prepare you for a future career in data engineering, AI, and enterprise consulting.

As part of this opportunity, you will be aligned to the following practice: AI, Analytics, Automation & Data Services, focused on helping organizations modernize data platforms, build scalable data pipelines, enable advanced analytics, automate business processes, and develop AI-driven solutions that improve business performance and decision-making.

Data is the foundation of AI and digital transformation. During your internship, you will gain exposure to how organizations use modern data platforms, cloud technologies, automation, analytics, and AI to solve complex business challenges and deliver meaningful business outcomes. No two projects are exactly alike. You may contribute to projects supporting clients across industries including healthcare, financial services, retail, manufacturing, government, energy, and more.

Throughout your internship, you will collaborate with experienced data specialists, data engineers, AI specialists, business professionals, and technology experts while learning how organizations solve complex business challenges through enterprise data and AI solutions. Through mentorship, structured learning, hands-on project experiences, and AI-enabled tools, you will strengthen your technical capabilities, analytical thinking, and professional skills while building a strong foundation for a future career at IBM.

During your internship, you may have opportunities to:

• Support data engineering services and AI initiatives that improve business performance, operational efficiency, and data-driven decision-making.
• Assist experienced team members with designing, building, testing, and maintaining data pipelines, data integration processes, and modern data platforms.
• Contribute to data preparation, transformation, validation, and quality activities that support analytics, automation, and AI solutions.
• Analyze structured and unstructured data to identify trends, generate insights, and support business decision-making.
• Collaborate with cross-functional business and technology teams while gaining exposure to cloud platforms, enterprise data architectures, analytics, and AI technologies.
• Assist with testing, validating, and supporting data engineering and analytics solutions while learning how organizations build trusted, scalable data environments.
• Participate in project meetings, workshops, and professional development opportunities while building communication, teamwork, and consulting skills.

To give yourself the best opportunity for success, we advise applying only to roles that align with your skills and experience, rather than applying broadly across all entry-level positions. You will receive a status update email for each application, so be sure to check your IBM Careers account regularly, as it is the best way to get a centralized view of which roles you have active applications against.

The primary internship program dates are May to July 2027 (10 weeks).

Qualifications

• Currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, Analytics, or a related field.
• Interest in data engineering, AI, analytics, automation, cloud technologies, or digital transformation concepts.
• Basic understanding of programming concepts with exposure to Python, SQL, Java, or similar technologies.
• Basic understanding of databases, data structures, data processing, analytics, and how data supports business decision-making.
• Exposure to data preparation, transformation, visualization, analytics, or business problem-solving through coursework, academic projects, research, hackathons, internships, student organizations, certifications, IBM SkillsBuild, volunteer experiences, personal learning, or other practical learning opportunities.
• Awareness of AI, Machine Learning, Generative AI, and emerging technologies, along with their impact on business and digital transformation.

You don't need to be an expert to get started. We are looking for individuals with a strong foundation, a growth mindset, and a desire to learn and make an impact.

Preferred Qualifications

• Exposure to data engineering, analytics, automation, AI, cloud technologies, or enterprise data platforms through coursework, student projects, research, hackathons, or internship experiences.
• Familiarity with databases, SQL, ETL/ELT concepts, data visualization tools, cloud platforms, machine learning workflows, or modern data architectures.
• Interest in AI, Generative AI, data-driven decision-making, consulting, and continuous learning.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with teammates while supporting data modernization, analytics, and enterprise AI transformation initiatives.