Building AI talent through industry collaboration
A partnership between La Trobe University and CoreDNA has given students the opportunity to apply AI in real-world applications.
La Trobe University and digital experience platform provider CoreDNA have collaborated through the university’s Industry Placements Program , empowering students and industry partners to work together on business challenges while developing practical skills in artificial intelligence.
CoreDNA CEO Sam Saltis, partnerships between universities and industry are becoming increasingly important stating “Industry engagement in AI education isn’t optional, it’s essential. AI is moving too fast for theory alone; staying relevant means applying learning to industry practice in addressing real-world challenges.”
Working alongside the final year undergraduate and postgraduate La Trobe Business School students, CoreDNA provided opportunities for the students to apply emerging AI tools to business challenges while gaining experience in how CoreDNA is adopting AI agents for workflow and process automation tasks.
Preeti Gupta, La Trobe Business Analytics student, drew on her internship experience with CoreDNA highlighting that “Despite having no advanced coding background, I used tools like Claude and Claude Code to design and build an interactive platform for a real business challenge.”
Her experience reflects how AI is empowering students from a range of disciplines to contribute to innovative digital solutions. “This experience showed us that AI is an enabling general purpose technology, that empowers every student to be creative and innovative is solving real-world challenges.
Preeti also noted that “It has given us the confidence to continue exploring how AI can be a digital co-worker in our future career”.
La Trobe student Subee Prabagaran, reflected on utlising AI for CoreDNA’s business challenge transferred their perspective on AI and problem-solving, “The biggest surprise wasn’t learning how to use AI, it was learning more about myself. I discovered that AI doesn’t replace curiosity, creativity or critical thinking; it amplifies them.”
The learning experience gave Subee greater confidence and fluency in applying AI to complex business problems “It gave me the confidence to take on problems that felt intimidating and showed me that the future belongs to people who know how to ask better questions, not just better prompts. That’s a mindset I’ll carry throughout my career.”
The students received subject credits towards the completion of their degrees for successfully completing the 80 hour Industry Placement . Throughout the placement, they demonstrated capability across documentation systems, research and benchmarking, information architecture and content strategy, UX research and prototype development. At the conclusion, the students shared their insights through presentations and recommendations.
The Industry Placements program creates a mutually beneficial partnership between the business and the student. Participating organisations benefit from connecting with next-generation talent, staff mentoring and management opportunities, and receive added value through project participation relevant to organisational needs. The students also gain tangible industry experience while building confidence in key sector-relevant skills and expand their professional experience.
For Sam, this practical experience is what makes the partnership with La Trobe University so valuable, “The model bridges the gap between studying AI and actually working with it. For CoreDNA, partnering with La Trobe gives us a front-row seat to this revolution”.
As AI continues to transform the way we work, industry experiences like this give students, like Subee & Preeti, the confidence to build on existing skills and tackle workplace challenges. This collaboration assists students with practical experience and industry connections to confidentially step into their careers.
For further information on the Industry Placements or Industry Projects, visit the La Trobe Talent website, or contact the La Trobe Talent team on latrobetalent@latrobe.edu.au.