From Campus to Client-Ready: Inside Our 2026 India Internship Program

Building a future-ready workforce has always been one of AbsoluteLabs strategic priorities. With that vision, we visited multiple universities across India to identify and recruit talented young professionals to invest in people with the potential to grow into our next generation of technology leaders.

The search was competitive from the start. We interviewed nearly 300 candidates across a range of universities, and after a rigorous evaluation process, 16 exceptional interns were selected for their technical aptitude, problem-solving skills, and learning potential.

One of them was Anuj Kejriwal, now part of our Service Delivery – Project Services team. Looking back on why he applied, Anuj says it came down to wanting real responsibility, not busywork:

"I wanted an internship that wasn't just coffee runs and PowerPoint decks. I wanted real hands-on exposure to something actually running in production, not a simulated project. I'd heard from seniors who'd interned here that you actually get put on real client work instead of shadow projects, and that's what made me apply."

On 16th February 2026, Anuj and the rest of the cohort joined us for a comprehensive onboarding, introducing them to our culture, our services, and the technologies that drive our business. For many, the shift from lecture halls to live client work was immediate and eye-opening.

"In college, deadlines were flexible and mistakes cost you a grade; here, mistakes could affect a client," Anuj recalls. "What surprised me most was how much emphasis there was on documentation and communication. Writing a clear status update turned out to be as important as writing clean code."

Following onboarding, interns were aligned to technology streams based on their interests, strengths, and business needs, spanning Google Cloud Platform, AWS, Microsoft Azure, Salesforce, MuleSoft, Quality Assurance, and other emerging technologies. Anuj started on MuleSoft, learning how enterprise systems talk to one another, before picking up AWS skills along the way as project needs pulled him toward the cloud. "I didn't consciously choose cloud over integration so much as let the project needs pull me there," he explains, "and having both under my belt has turned out to be useful, since a lot of real engagements need integration and cloud to talk to each other anyway."

Alongside structured learning, interns were encouraged to pursue industry-recognised certifications and were placed on live customer projects under the guidance of experienced mentors. Anuj has since earned four Anthropic Academy certifications and made strong progress toward his MuleSoft Certified Developer Level 1, while now working toward an AWS certification. For the past month and a half, he's been part of the team on the JMC POS engagement, an experience he describes as intimidating at first, but transformative with the right support:

"There's no 'practice environment' when a client is depending on your output. My mentor didn't just hand me tasks, they explained the 'why' behind decisions, reviewed my work before it went anywhere near the client, and made it clear I could ask 'dumb' questions without judgment. That safety net is what let me actually take ownership instead of just following instructions."

That combination of formal learning, certification, and hands-on project exposure is by design and it shows in how quickly interns like Anuj have grown.  

"On day one, I was mostly focused on not making mistakes," he says. "Now I'm focused on adding value and asking 'is there a better way to do this' instead of just 'does this work.'"

After successfully completing the program and demonstrating strong technical capability, commitment, and performance, the interns were converted into full-time employees, now contributing to client and internal projects while continuing to build their skills. For Anuj, the shift felt like a natural continuation rather than a hard switch: "The main difference is the level of accountability. I'm now expected to anticipate problems, not just solve the ones handed to me."

Asked what he'd tell a student about to start their own internship journey with us, his advice was simple: "Don't wait to be told what to do, ask for context, ask for feedback, and don't be afraid to say 'I don't know' when you genuinely don't. The interns who grow fastest aren't the ones who already know everything; they're the ones who are the most curious."

This program reflects our long-term commitment to nurturing young talent, bridging the gap between academia and industry, and building a skilled, future-ready workforce ready to support our continued growth and innovation. As Anuj puts it: "University gave me the fundamentals. This program was where that met a client conversation, and that gap between knowing the theory and being useful to a client is exactly what this internship closed for me."

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