Fast track to IT (FIT)
Ireland
FIT’s mission is to promote an inclusive Smart Economy by creating a fast track to marketable technical ICT skills for …
Good practice
Imported
★ 80
★ 72
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Microsoft AI School: AI skills for unemployed youth
France · Paris · Local · See the France profile · See the Paris profile
Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 98% 32/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice
The 24 students who participated in Microsoft’s AI School were selected in conjunction with Microsoft’s partner Simplon – a social enterprise that strives for equal opportunities in education and employment by providing free and inclusive digital training for people from all back
24 people
Students participating (March 2018-September 2019)
100 %
Employment/business placement rate (at programme completion (September 2019))
26 years (range 19-39)
Average participant age (2018 cohort)
7 months intensive + 12 months placement support
Training duration (2018-2019)
Details
- Maturity
- Pilot
- Promoter
- Microsoft AI School — website
- Type
- Service
- Status
- Ended
- Target groups
- Unemployed and those facing social problems
- People reached
- 24
- Period
- 2018-03-06 – 2019-09-29
- Region (NUTS)
FR10- Keywords
- equal opportunities, AI, employment, digital training
Context
Microsoft partnered with Simplon, a social enterprise providing free and inclusive digital training for people from all backgrounds, to create the Microsoft AI School, responding to forecasts that 85% of jobs that will exist in 2030 do not exist today and strong market demand for AI-skilled professionals.
Objectives
The programme aimed to give economically disadvantaged, unemployed young people practical AI skills and a pathway into employment, selected regardless of demographic background.
Activities
24 students, average age 26 (range 19-39), took part in a 7-month intensive curriculum covering AI data preparation, cognitive APIs, development skills and soft skills such as creativity, collaboration and project management, followed by 12 months of employment placement support, running from 6 March 2018 to 29 September 2019.
Results
All 24 participants secured apprenticeships or started their own businesses, a self-reported 100% placement rate. No independent evaluation or comparison group was used; outcomes are drawn from Microsoft and Simplon programme communications.
Implementation
- Indicative cost
- Low (< €50k) — Not published in available sources.
- Time to results
- Short (< 1 year) — 7-month intensive training (started 6 March 2018) followed by 12-month employment placement support, concluding 29 September 2019.
- Staffing & skills
- Delivered in partnership with Simplon (social enterprise providing free inclusive digital training)
Conditions for success
- Selection focused on economically disadvantaged/unemployed individuals regardless of background
- Combination of technical AI curriculum with soft-skills training (creativity, collaboration, project management)
- 12-month post-training employment placement support
Commonly funded by
Own resources / municipal budget
Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.
Do you run this practice? Claim it — verified implementers get a public contact pathway and can propose corrections.
Data sources
Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.
- MEDICI / Digital Inclusion Atlas — accessed 2026-06-14
- Practice website — accessed 2026-06-14
- Information source — accessed 2026-06-14
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