Crossing borders, building skills: an AI journey with Spyrosoft & PAIH 

When students decide to take their first steps into technology, they often look for experiences that will expand their skills and help them understand where they truly want to go in their careers. For many, internships are the first time they encounter practical work, and it is here that curiosity begins to change into real professional ambition. This is exactly the kind of journey that Matthew, a senior Data Science student from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, experienced during his 3-month internship at Spyrosoft as part of the Poland Business Adventure programme organised by PAIH (Polish Investment & Trade Agency).

About the PAIH & the program

PAIH, the Polish Investment and Trade Agency, supports Polish companies in expanding internationally and assists foreign investors interested in entering the Polish market by providing advisory services, training, and access to a global network of foreign offices. The agency promotes Poland’s economic potential and fosters an environment that drives business growth, operating as part of the Polish Development Fund Group. The Poland. Business Adventure program is dedicated to young people of Polish descent living abroad and offers internships in local companies, public institutions, and NGOs. Participants gain insight into modern Poland, its culture, and its business landscape while taking part in educational, regional, and networking activities that help them build strong international professional connections.

For Matthew, joining the AI team at Spyrosoft was an opportunity to immerse himself in advanced technologies, contribute to real-world projects and experience the collaborative and supportive environment of a modern software development company.

When asked why he chose Spyrosoft for his internship, he shared:

“After researching Spyrosoft, I realised that it is a company with a work environment that carries out a wide variety of interesting projects. After hearing about the projects I would be working on, I chose Spyrosoft as I felt it would provide the best support for my learning and career development. Now, at the end of my internship, I can say that I made the right choice, as I have learnt many valuable skills and met many wonderful people who will support me in my future career.”

Meet the mentors behind Matthew’s AI experience

• Tomasz Smolarczyk (AI Director)
  Drawing on a background in IT and business, Tomek has led analytics projects across telecommunications, retail, automotive, and healthcare. He has developed predictive models, scaled data science teams for startups, and driven digital transformation initiatives for large corporations. With an MBA-based postgraduate management education, he excels at translating technical solutions into actionable strategies, aligning initiatives with organisational goals, and delivering sustainable business growth.
• Krzysztof Wilk (Project Manager)
  Project Manager specialising in AI-driven solutions and enterprise ERP systems. Leads cross-functional teams delivering internal AI initiatives and client-facing products, with a strong focus on translating emerging technologies into business value. Experienced in RAG-based AI solutions, end-to-end delivery, and Agile collaboration. Holds Master’s degrees in Management and Public Administration.
• Bartłomiej Chabros (Senior AI Software Engineer)
  Senior AI Software Engineer with 4+ years of experience specialising in agentic AI systems and multi-agent architectures. An award-winning developer, recognised for delivering intelligent automation solutions using cutting-edge frameworks such as LangChain, LangGraph, crewAI, PydanticAI, and Google ADK. Highly skilled in building RAG systems, working with vector databases, and advanced prompt engineering across Azure, GCP, and AWS. Experienced in implementing the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to enhance AI agent capabilities. Holds a Master’s degree in Econometrics and Computer Science from the University of Warsaw.

What we’ve been working on

Throughout the internship, we guided our intern through practical, hands-on projects in AI and data, providing him with real-world experience of IT workflows.Matthew worked with databases such as Postgres and vector databases. He developed strong Python skills, primarily focusing on AI-driven workflows and model integrations with supporting API components.

Matthew gained experience in cloud and DevOps practices by working with Azure services to support deployment and system integration projects. Within the field of AI, he developed intelligent chatbots, implemented RAG workflows and performed similarity searches on data. He also worked on prompt engineering, participated in model evaluation, analysing results and making informed decisions in situations where the outcome was not immediately apparent.

What is more, Matthew explored agentic AI approaches, optimising tools such as Claude Code and designing custom agents to support and streamline his own work and that of the team. He contributed to internal marketing and sales projects by integrating external services, applying web scraping techniques and building modular AI solutions within a product team. Throughout this process, he gained hands-on experience with agile methodologies and further strengthened his analytical and decision-making skills.

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From Matthew perspective – project, expectations & impressions

A: Did you enjoy the assignments and tasks you worked on during the internship?

M: Very much, my main focus this internship was working on project LEAP, a RAG-based chatbot application, in which I worked on an AI-Judge evaluation framework to compare how different LLM’s performed within LEAP. Although I was quite new to it, I got the chance to learn a lot about Generative AI and it opened my eyes to how the AI applications we talk about daily actually work.

A: What was the biggest challenge or something that took you by surprise? Was there any project you felt particularly proud of?

M: I think the biggest challenge that took me by surprise was adjusting to the role of a software engineer. Most of my experience has been in data science and analytics, so this was my first position where I worked on coding a feature for a production ready product. I had to adjust my working mindset and learn new skills to excel in my new role. I was particularly proud of the AI-Judge project I worked on, as seeing the framework successfully compare different LLMs and produce insights for LEAP was incredibly rewarding.

A: What is the most valuable lesson or takeaway you’re leaving with after completing the internship?

M: There are many valuable lessons I’m leaving with after completing the internship, however I think the most important one was learning how to think like an engineer. In AI software engineering, all it takes is a small mistake in order for your whole workflow to be thrown off balance. The wrong sentence in a backend prompt might accidentally give you responses in a whole new language, or a misplaced parameter could invalidate your entire evaluation system, teaching me the importance of precision and systemic testing. This mindset shift -from an analyst to an engineer, where you’re building reusable systems rather than one-off solutions, will be invaluable to my career.

A: What differences in work culture did you notice when collaborating with a Polish tech company?

M: There was a handful of differences I’ve noticed in the work culture here in Poland vs the United States. I found that the work culture in Spyrosoft was more laid-back in the sense that I felt less pressure and stress. Back in the States, there is a “busy-work” culture, while here I found the environment to be supportive of learning meaningful skills that not only benefit you personally, but which also prove to benefit the company itself later on. Additionally, I found the atmosphere here to be more collaborative. I noticed that my co-workers here seemed closer with one another and socialised more frequently, occasionally grabbing coffee together to talk about work or their personal lives, which I found welcoming.

A: What advice would you give to other students who haven’t done any internships yet?

M: I think it is very important to do internships as they not only give you practical experience that you can’t get in school, but they also help you discover what you actually enjoy doing in your field. Internships also help you build professional networks and develop soft skills like collaboration and communication that are just as important as technical skills. My advice would be to seek out opportunities that push you outside your comfort zone as that’s where the most growth happens.

Read on to find out about the experiences of the interns from Szczecin and Croatia!

Explore our work experience programmes

At Spyrosoft, we believe that true growth begins with genuine experience. That’s why our internship programmes focus on practical learning, real responsibility and constant support from experienced specialists. You’ll work on meaningful projects, gain exposure to modern technologies and develop the confidence to turn ideas into impact.

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Your next chapter could begin right here at Spyrosoft!