Lilly

Lilly / Purdue AI Acceleration Fellowship FDE

US, Indianapolis IN Full time

At Lilly, we unite caring with discovery to make life better for people around the world. We are a global healthcare leader headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Our employees around the world work to discover and bring life-changing medicines to those who need them, improve the understanding and management of disease, and give back to our communities through philanthropy and volunteerism. We give our best effort to our work, and we put people first. We’re looking for people who are determined to make life better for people around the world.

Lilly / Purdue AI Acceleration Fellowship

12-month fellowship  |  June 2026 – June 2027  |  Indianapolis, IN

Application Submission   

Please submit your resume as a 2-page PDF document with the following requirements: 

Page 1 Resume: The first page should be your resume. 

Page 2 Questionnaire: The second page should contain your answers to the following: 

  • What agents or gen AI enabled products or technologies have you developed? What was your role? What was the impact?

  • Why do you want to participate in this fellowship? What do you hope to accomplish?

Make sure your PDF document is no more than two pages in total.

The Opportunity

At Lilly, we’re building the future of medicine, and AI is at the center of that transformation. From agents that streamline how we manufacture and deliver therapies, to intelligent systems that accelerate drug discovery, we’re reimagining how an enterprise operates in the age of AI.

The Lilly / Purdue AI Acceleration Fellowship is a 12-month program designed for new Computer Science and Computer Engineering graduates from Purdue University who want to do meaningful, production-grade AI work from day one. This isn’t a traditional rotation or internship. It’s a launchpad into one of the most ambitious enterprise AI transformations in the industry.

This is also a unique opportunity that doesn’t map neatly into a traditional engineering or business role. Fellows will work with both, applying technical skills to real business challenges across Lilly’s operations. It’s a chance to help build an agentic enterprise at one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies and launch your career doing work that matters.

What you’ll do

Month 1: Bootcamp

You’ll spend your first four weeks immersed in Lilly’s technology ecosystem, learning our AI platforms, frameworks, and tools alongside your cohort. By the end of bootcamp, you’ll have deployed at least one production capability and be ready to hit the ground running. Training includes Lilly’s Cortex GenAI platform, agent-to-agent communication (A2A), Model Context Protocol (MCP), and hands-on work with modern AI development tools.

Months 2–12: Team placement and production work

After bootcamp, you’ll be matched to a business area and project where you’ll spend the remainder of the fellowship building production AI capabilities. Placement areas include:

  • Global Services (Finance, HR, legal) – Automation agents, workflow intelligence, MCP integrations with enterprise systems like SAP and Workday
  • Manufacturing & Quality – Quality documentation automation, deviation investigation agents, batch record analysis tools
  • Lilly Research Labs – Experiment design assistants, literature review agents, lab data integration workflows

How project matching works

Hiring managers across Lilly submit project proposals describing the work, team, learning opportunity, and expected deliverables. During bootcamp, you’ll review these project descriptions, including the business area, vision, and scope, and express your preferences. A matching process will pair you with a project based on your interests, skills, and team needs. Our goal is to have more project proposals than fellowship participants, giving you meaningful choice in where you land.

Important: All placements focus on genuine AI and agentic development work. This program is designed to build the future, not to fill general staffing gaps.

Throughout the fellowship

  • A dedicated tech mentor to guide your development
  • Monthly community events with lightning talks, demos, and shared learnings across the cohort
  • An optional bootcamp refresh around the 60-day mark
  • Strong performers may have the opportunity to transition into permanent roles within the business areas where they’re placed, helping shape what these emerging positions look like at Lilly

Basic qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or relevant degree from Purdue University, graduating May 2026
  • Qualified applicants must be authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis. Lilly will not provide support for or sponsor work authorization or visas for this role, including but not limited to F-1 CPT, F-1 OPT, F-1 STEM OPT, J-1, H-1B, TN, O-1, E-3, H-1B1, or L-1

What we’re looking for

  • Strong preference for Computer Science or Computer Engineering degrees
  • A builder’s mindset! You’d rather ship something real than talk about it
  • Curiosity about AI, agents, and how large language models can transform enterprise operations
  • Strong fundamentals in software engineering, including experience with Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, or similar languages
  • Comfort working in ambiguity. You’ll be solving problems that don’t have a textbook answer
  • Effective communication skills and the ability to collaborate across technical and non-technical teams
  • Familiarity with modern development practices (Git, CI/CD, agile workflows)
  • Exposure to or interest in AI/ML, cloud platforms, data engineering, or API development

Program details

  • Duration: 12 months (June 2026 – June 2027)
  • Start date: June 1, 2026

Lilly is dedicated to helping individuals with disabilities to actively engage in the workforce, ensuring equal opportunities when vying for positions. If you require accommodation to submit a resume for a position at Lilly, please complete the accommodation request form (https://careers.lilly.com/us/en/workplace-accommodation) for further assistance. Please note this is for individuals to request an accommodation as part of the application process and any other correspondence will not receive a response.

Lilly is proud to be an EEO Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender identity, sex, gender expression, sexual orientation, genetic information, ancestry, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.


Our employee resource groups (ERGs) offer strong support networks for their members and are open to all employees. Our current groups include: Africa, Middle East, Central Asia Network, Black Employees at Lilly, Chinese Culture Network, Japanese International Leadership Network (JILN), Lilly India Network, Organization of Latinx at Lilly (OLA), PRIDE (LGBTQ+ Allies), Veterans Leadership Network (VLN), Women’s Initiative for Leading at Lilly (WILL), enAble (for people with disabilities). Learn more about all of our groups.

Actual compensation will depend on a candidate’s education, experience, skills, and geographic location.  The anticipated wage for this position is

$70,000.00

Full-time equivalent employees also will be eligible for a company bonus (depending, in part, on company and individual performance). In addition, Lilly offers a comprehensive benefit program to eligible employees, including eligibility to participate in a company-sponsored 401(k); pension; vacation benefits; eligibility for medical, dental, vision and prescription drug benefits; flexible benefits (e.g., healthcare and/or dependent day care flexible spending accounts); life insurance and death benefits; certain time off and leave of absence benefits; and well-being benefits (e.g., employee assistance program, fitness benefits, and employee clubs and activities).Lilly reserves the right to amend, modify, or terminate its compensation and benefit programs in its sole discretion and Lilly’s compensation practices and guidelines will apply regarding the details of any promotion or transfer of Lilly employees.

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