A new University of Huddersfield programme aims to link Yorkshire businesses with the university’s AI expertise, aiming both to help firms make better use of AI and to help develop the AI specialists of the future.
AI-Ready Yorkshire pairs participating businesses with students and recent graduates from Huddersfield’s AI and Computer Science courses, aiming to help companies that recognise AI’s potential but lack the time, know-how or resources to actually test it. Backed by funding from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the scheme will deliver at least 60 student placements and graduate traineeships over three years, each centred on a real project tackling a genuine business problem.
The initiative forms part of the government’s TechFirst tech skills programme, with Huddersfield’s bid securing around £300,000 over three years from Innovate UK’s wider £7.8 million TechLocal fund, which is designed to help regional businesses find skilled people and connect them to opportunities for growth.
A practical bridge
Professor George Bargiannis, who leads the project and holds posts as Professor in Artificial Intelligence in Huddersfield’s Department of Computer Science and Co-Director of its Institute of Applied Artificial Intelligence, said: “AI-Ready Yorkshire is about creating a practical bridge between AI education and business innovation. Students and graduates will have the opportunity to apply their skills to real organisational challenges, while SMEs will gain access to emerging AI talent and academic support.
“This is particularly important for Yorkshire, a region with a long history of industry, enterprise and practical innovation. Our aim is to help local businesses take their first or next step with AI, while strengthening the region’s talent pipeline and retaining more technology skills locally.”
Students will take part through placements tied to their final-year undergraduate or Master’s projects, while graduates join structured traineeships within host businesses. Every project is shaped jointly with the business involved and overseen by university academics with AI expertise spanning multiple industries, giving companies fresh thinking and technical know-how while participants gain hands-on, real-world experience.
The scheme is aimed particularly at Yorkshire SMEs curious about areas like data analysis, automation, predictive modelling or AI-driven decision-making — often their first real chance to trial the technology in an actual working environment.
A launch event for local businesses takes place on Wednesday 23 September at the 3M Buckley Innovation Centre in Huddersfield, with booking available via Eventbrite. Anyone wanting more information can contact the project team directly at ai-ready@hud.ac.uk.
