Students of bachelor's programs of the IT holding T1, MAI and Financial University developed 20 IT solutions

Students of the “Top-IT” and “Top-II” bachelor’s programs from the T1 IT holding, the Moscow Aviation Institute and the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation developed 20 prototypes of IT solutions in five days: a service for selecting cloud products, an early warning system for financial crises, a service for forecasting the number of guests in a fast food chain and scheduling employee shifts, as well as an AI assistant for working with data. The best projects will be used in the business processes of real companies.

The number of vacancies for entry-level professionals without experience in the IT industry is only 10% in 2026 – this is three times less than in other industries. Today, employers expect from juniors not only a theoretical basis, but also real applied skills, an understanding of business problems, digital competencies, including the ability to use AI, and a readiness for continuous learning.

Students of MAI and the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation took part in the on-site design and educational intensive VI Spring School “Information Technologies and Artificial Intelligence” – in a few days they went from developing an idea to creating prototypes of IT solutions.

The general partner of the project was the T1 IT holding, which systematically cooperates with these universities. Together with MAI, the holding is developing the “Top-IT” bachelor’s programs, where they teach how to develop and implement machine learning systems, and together with the Financial University, the “Top-AI” program in applied machine learning. Particular emphasis at each stage of training is placed on the development of practical skills in future IT specialists.

A key part of the educational intensive was a hackathon, where 60 students worked on real cases from university partners: T1 IT Holding, PJSC Bank PSB, Technologies – and the National Center for Socio-Economic Data. Experts from the IT holding T1 prepared a task – the teams had to develop a system that helps select cloud services according to the context of the task: budget, technology stack, region of data location and regulatory requirements. During their work, novice specialists used methods of machine learning, mathematical modeling, data analysis and interface development.

Throughout the entire project, the students were accompanied by a curator and an expert from the T1 IT holding, who conducted daily checkpoints and provided feedback. At the same time, participants attended educational master classes, including those from the holding’s specialists. The final of the school was the defense of 20 final projects – the jury paid special attention not only to technical implementation, but also to teamwork, as well as the presentation of the solution itself. The best teams received prizes from universities and partner companies.

“The intensive has become an excellent opportunity for young professionals to apply their knowledge in conditions that are as close as possible to project work in IT companies. The guys combined the competencies acquired during training and proposed the most effective solutions to important IT business problems. Such practical experience becomes the foundation for a quick and successful start in a career,” noted Ksenia Rumbesht, director of the department of corporate training and talent development at T1 IT holding, head of T1 Digital Academy.