Jr Ai Developer

What they actually need
Someone who builds and ships AI tools, mostly in the ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot ecosystem, rather than a traditional software engineer. The scale is notable: a backlog of about 60 tools and about 30 delivered every eight weeks. That means fast, practical, repeatable builds, not deep research or model training.
Must-haves (even for a junior)
Hands-on experience building with ChatGPT, Custom GPTs, OpenAI tools, or Microsoft Copilot. Personal or school projects count.
Strong prompt engineering: turning a vague business problem into a working solution.
Ability to test, refine, and deploy, including gathering user feedback and iterating.
Clear communication with non-technical stakeholders (Events, Commercial Services, Hotel Operations).
Can juggle many small projects at once.
Analytical, troubleshooting mindset.
Nice-to-haves
Copilot Agents / Copilot Studio experience
OpenAI API familiarity
Hospitality or hotel operations background
Related degree (CS, AI, Data Science, IT), though equivalent experience is accepted
Where to find juniors in Chicago
Recent grads or 1year people in IT, business analytics, or data roles who have built Custom GPTs or Copilot agents on their own
Power Platform / Power Automate / low-code automation people (Copilot Studio is a natural next step)
Business analysts, operations analysts, or "AI champions" at Chicago firms in hospitality, consulting, or finance
Local grads from UIC, DePaul, Loyola, Northwestern, IIT, and bootcamp graduates (General Assembly, Northwestern/DePaul AI certificates)
Hospitality-adjacent people who have taught themselves AI tools