Spotify’s Internship Program in a Time of Transformation and AI
Each year, we welcome a cohort of ambitious interns to step into the rhythm of summer at Spotify! Each internship spot offers the new band members the opportunity to contribute to Spotify’s success and to grow, reflect, and connect in ways that shape the course of their professional journeys. This is more than an internship – it’s the start of their career.
We fill the spots through a rigorous, intentional interview process in collaboration with our talent acquisition team and the hiring team. It’s designed to align top emerging talent with our long-term workforce plans. These roles are carefully tied to areas of future growth in the business, with the belief (and hope!) that interns can become vital contributors, whether immediately after the program or when the right role arises in the future. Using this approach, we build a strong pipeline of emerging talent, connected to the needs of our company. Interns contribute fresh perspectives and skills from day one, while the program strives to unlock their potential and invest in their development. All of this helps to advance our goals by cultivating career affirming experiences that shape future careers.
At the core of this journey lie our big picture learning objectives. These objectives center on two powerful themes: career and connection.
We believe that career growth is more than skill-building; it’s about ownership, insight, and the confidence that comes from doing meaningful work. Our interns dive headfirst into their roles, leading summer-long projects, sharpening practical skills, and developing a deeper sense of self through thoughtful feedback and reflection.
Equally vital to the intern experience is connection which includes gaining a deeper understanding of who we are as a company, including where we’ve been, what we believe in, and where we’re headed. Interns are immersed in Spotify’s rich history and bold business strategy, learning how our past innovations shape our future direction. Along the way, they build a professional network of peers, mentors, and leaders that provides perspective and support well beyond their summer with us.
Together, these elements create a holistic, immersive program experience, one that empowers our interns to see not just what they can do, but who they can become in this new age of working.
Orchestrating a Purposeful Internship Experience
We design our internship experience to blend skill-building, connection, and future-focused learning into a program that’s as thoughtful as it is impactful. Interns begin their journey with a strong onboarding experience that introduces them to the tools, systems, and context they need to dive in with confidence. From there, they explore the inner workings of the Spotify business gaining perspective on our history, strategy, and the collaborative efforts that fuel innovation across teams. As they grow into their roles, we meet them where they are, offering targeted opportunities to sharpen technical and professional skills that align with their goals. And woven throughout it all is a strong sense of connection through cultural events, shared experiences, and, of course, some fun along the way. By the end of summer, interns build relationships that enrich their experience and expand their network for the future.
Learning is the Key of Innovation
This year, we’ve introduced new layers to the program that reflect the future of work with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) education that encourages interns to think beyond the basics and imagine what’s next.
Every intern receives access to company wide AI tools & trainings, providing a foundational understanding of how the technology is reshaping industries, workflows, and the future of work. Engineering interns take it a step further with ML Foundations, getting hands-on with concepts that fuel real-time innovation.
And as a major highlight, we’ve orchestrated an AI for the Product Experience event. This is an immersive look at how Spotify leverages machine learning to personalise, predict, and power our products. It’s an invitation to see AI as a core part of our sound.
As our interns grow through hands-on experience, connection, and future-focused learning, they’re not just contributing to Spotify’s present, they’re helping shape our future. This program is more than a summer opportunity; it’s a vital part of our talent pipeline, building a strong bench of future leaders, innovators, and collaborators who are already tuned in to the strategy of what’s next. This summer, we’ve welcomed 99 incredible interns to our Stockholm, London, and New York City offices, and we can’t wait for them to experience all we have in store.
