The Pulse
Microsoft and CMU Pair Junior Engineers With Senior Mentors
Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University launched PRAISE, a program that pairs early-career Microsoft engineers with senior mentors and CMU coursework. The first courses cover machine learning in production and AI-augmented software enginee
AI.info Team · Written with AI ·
“AI changes the work, but it doesn't eliminate the need for junior engineers or for human judgment and accountability.”
Mark Russinovich, CTO, deputy CISO and technical fellow for Microsoft Azure
Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University are pairing early-career engineers with senior mentors and university courses in a program designed around a practical problem: how new developers build engineering judgment when AI can produce code quickly. The companies announced the Preceptorship for AI-accelerated Software Engineering, or PRAISE, on October 15. The program combines workplace mentoring at Microsoft with instruction from CMU’s Kenneth C. Griffin School of Computer Science.
Mentoring moves beyond watching senior engineers work
Microsoft’s model pairs junior engineers, called preceptees, with senior engineering preceptors. The mentors work through problems with them, explain how they approach decisions and help them judge when AI tools are useful. The stated aim is to give early-career staff room to learn by doing, rather than simply observing a more experienced engineer solve a problem.
Microsoft compares the arrangement to nursing preceptorships, in which new nurses gain practical experience under the guidance of experienced colleagues. The comparison is about training and supervision: the program’s focus is software design, AI-assisted development and the responsibility for what teams ship. The company says preceptees are taught to test assumptions and discuss unfamiliar changes with colleagues.
CMU courses connect theory to Microsoft projects
Participants are Microsoft employees who can take CMU online courses while working full time. The first semester includes Machine Learning in Production and Preceptorship in AI-Augmented Software Engineering I. CMU says the courses cover incorporating machine learning into software and using AI tools during development.
For spring, the planned courses are DevOps: Engineering for Secure Development and Deployment and the second part of the AI-augmented software engineering sequence. CMU says coursework can be applied toward a master’s degree in software engineering, giving participants a route to continue their studies beyond the certificate program. The curriculum is meant to complement the engineering work and mentoring participants receive at Microsoft.
The first cohort is already working in Seattle
CMU’s account of the launch describes participant Jace Watson taking classes while working as a Microsoft software engineer in Seattle. Watson said AI tools were not a major part of his undergraduate education, but had become part of his daily work after he joined the company. He sought the additional coursework to learn how to use them more fully.
The program grew from a discussion after Microsoft Azure CTO Mark Russinovich visited CMU’s School of Computer Science in October 2025. CMU reports that the partners began exploring how education could help junior engineers meet the demands of AI-assisted work. The program’s certificate director, CMU professor Jonathan Aldrich, said he believes it could serve as a template for companies seeking to train new developers.
A company training model, not a claim that coding has disappeared
Microsoft’s case for PRAISE is that AI changes the work without removing the need for junior engineers or human accountability. The company says design and architecture take a larger share of its engineering work as AI tools help with coding, but argues that engineers still need to understand the code and evaluate the systems they deliver.
That makes PRAISE a specific response to a hiring and training challenge, not evidence that a university course alone can settle how software teams should adapt. Its first participants are Microsoft employees, and its structure ties classes directly to work at the company. The coming spring schedule adds secure development and deployment to the curriculum, alongside the second course in AI-augmented software engineering.