AI Internship: Self-Hosted LLMs for Data Migration

ELCA Information Technology Ltd.; Zürich; Hybrid; CHF 20,000 - 31,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Dynamic, multicultural team

Monthly AI meetups

Hackathons and Brownbag sessions

Job summary

ELCA Information Technology Ltd. in Zürich invites ambitious computer science students for a 6-month internship starting Spring 2027. You will test sovereign, locally-run AI to scope complex legacy data migrations and support fixed-price offers.

You will benchmark open-source LLMs, deploy models locally, design a prototype pipeline, uncover business rules, validate data quality and generate estimates with a locally-run model.

Qualifications

• Bachelor or Master in Computer Science or related discipline.
• Fluent in English; German or French is a plus.
• Experience with LLMs and local deployment is desirable.
• Interest in agentic AI and building benchmark pipelines.
• Basic understanding of database schemas and data quality.

Responsibilities

• Benchmark open-source LLMs that can be self-hosted on sovereign infra vs cloud models.
• Deploy and run candidate models locally with Ollama, vLLM or Hugging Face.
• Design and build a prototype agentic pipeline to analyze legacy schemas, code and data.
• Uncover hidden business rules in legacy systems, including .NET-based apps.
• Validate data consistency and quality and assess a representative migration case.
• Generate automated effort and complexity estimates and step-by-step migration guidelines.
• Define criteria and best practices for when a local model is accurate enough to replace manual scope.
• Evaluate resource, cost and licensing trade-offs between self-hosted and cloud models.
• Shape how we scope fixed-price services for data-sovereign clients.

Skills

Python programming

SQL

English proficiency

German or French

Data analysis

Education

Bachelor or Master in Computer Science

EPFL/ETH/University mention

Tools

Ollama

vLLM

Hugging Face

.NET familiarity

Job description

We are ELCA, one of the largest Swiss IT tribe with over 2,300 experts. We are multicultural with offices in Switzerland, Spain, France, Vietnam and Mauritius. Since 1968, our team of engineers, business analysts, software architects, designers and consultants provide tailor-made and standardized solutions to support the digital transformation of major public administrations and private companies in Switzerland. Our activity spans across multiples fields of leading-edge technologies such as AI, Machine & Deep learning, BI/BD, RPA, Blockchain, IoT and CyberSecurity.

In this 6-month internship starting in Spring 2027, you'll test whether sovereign, locally-run AI can reliably scope complex legacy data migrations so our clients can get accurate fixed-price offers.

Your tasks

• Benchmark open-source LLMs that can be self-hosted on sovereign infrastructure against leading cloud models on three migration-scoping tasks: understanding schemas, extracting business rules and assessing data quality.
• Deploy and run candidate models locally with tools such as Ollama, vLLM or Hugging Face, and see how sovereign AI works in practice.
• Design and build a prototype agentic pipeline that analyzes legacy schemas, code and sample data on its own.
• Uncover hidden business rules in legacy systems, including .NET-based applications, that often only show up after in-depth analysis.
• Validate data consistency and quality, and assess the complexity of a representative legacy migration case.
• Generate automated effort and complexity estimates, along with step-by-step migration guidelines, from a locally-run model.
• Define criteria and best practices for when a local model is accurate enough to replace manual scoping in fixed-price migration bids.
• Evaluate and document the resource, cost and licensing trade-offs between self-hosted and cloud models.
• Shape how we scope one of our most frequently fixed-price-quoted services for clients with strict data sovereignty needs.

What we offer

• A dynamic, collaborative workplace with a highly motivated, multicultural team working across international sites
• Monthly AI meetups with our expert AI team, where you can ask questions and move your topic forward
• The chance to make a difference in people's lives by building innovative solutions
• Internal coding events such as Hackathons and Brownbag sessions, plus our technical blog
• Monthly After-Works organized at each location

About your profile

• You have a Bachelor or Master degree (EPFL, ETH, University) in Computer Science or related discipline
• You are comfortable programming in Python and SQL, and ideally have some familiarity with .NET-based systems
• You have worked with LLMs and, ideally, tried deploying them locally (e.g. Ollama, vLLM, Hugging Face)
• You are curious about agentic AI and keen to build and benchmark your own pipeline
• You have a basic understanding of database schemas and data quality
• You like to work in a structured way and to share your findings clearly
• You are fluent in written and spoken English, as well as German or French

We believe in strong values and are convinced that diversity is the key to success. If you take on challenges with curiosity, motivation and drive, you've come to the right place! Let our motto inspire you: We make it work!