"Never did I imagine that a 35-day 'Soldiers Assault' program would land me a job offer from a top-tier company," said Gao Jing, a 2024 accounting graduate who, after more than a year of unsuccessful job hunting, now finds herself enveloped in a long-lost sense of fulfillment—meetings, projects, and code have become her daily routine. Her transformation from a "bookkeeping girl" with seemingly no place to go, to a sought-after "digital newcomer" in the AI sector, is not an isolated case; similar success stories of dramatic career pivots are continuously unfolding at the Xuanwu Model-Data Academy located on Nanjing's Zhujiang Road.
On November 10 last year, the first AI实战训练营 (AI Practical Training Camp) at the Xuanwu Model-Data Academy commenced. Forty-nine young individuals with diverse backgrounds entered the offline classroom. Among them were recent graduates like Gao Jing, who had been lingering at the workplace doorstep for a year or two, as well as fresh graduates just out of university. After over a month of intensive training, more than 80% of the trainees successfully entered the field of artificial intelligence with their newly acquired skills. How did they achieve this "breakthrough"? A reporter recently interviewed several trainees to find the answer.
"The training camp was like 'a beam of light' on my confusing path forward," said one trainee. "If I couldn't find a suitable job, I could always go and make bubble tea," Meng Yuan, a graduate student from Nanjing Forestry University's College of Furniture and Industrial Design, consoled herself last year as graduation approached. Her research focus—using algorithms to solve practical industrial problems in wood defect detection—was highly practical, and she had accumulated a solid foundation in algorithms. However, when she entered the job market, all her carefully prepared resumes went unanswered, and confusion enveloped her.
Similar to Meng Yuan, Tan Zixin, a 2025 journalism graduate from Nanjing University of Media and Communication, fell into self-doubt after consecutive failures in civil service exams, public institution exams, and bank job interviews. To adjust her state of mind, she once traveled alone to Dali, attempting to become a travel blogger. However, when one of her life videos unexpectedly gained massive traffic, along with encouragement came unbearable criticism. Ultimately, she deleted the video and set aside that potential career path.
"A fundamental starting point for creating this training camp was to address the practical difficulties faced by university students, especially those who have been out of school for two years and remain unemployed," said Shao Rui, a member of the Standing Committee and Deputy District Head of Nanjing's Xuanwu District, reflecting on the project's初衷 (original intention). Preliminary research made her acutely aware of a矛盾 (contradiction) in the job market: on one hand, many graduates felt their "learning had no practical application," while on the other, companies complained about the inability to recruit cost-effective, application-oriented talent who could get up to speed quickly.
Wang Tiantian, the head of a foreign trade company in Nanjing, had considered digital transformation multiple times but felt the financial strain was too great when contemplating the nearly 20,000 yuan monthly salary required to hire a professional AI specialist.
How to quickly build a bridge connecting supply and demand? The Xuanwu District government took the lead, organizing multiple "brainstorming" sessions involving departments such as Science and Technology, Human Resources and Social Security, and the District Communist Youth League Committee. Everyone agreed that AI was the key突破口 (breakthrough point). "AI is not an isolated赛道 (sector); it is an enabling tool that can切入 (cut into) various industries and drive overall efficiency leaps," said Shen Chao, Director of the Xuanwu District Science and Technology Bureau and Chairman of the Science Association. Setting AI as the core for short-to-medium-term skill重塑 (reshaping) could quickly enhance graduates' professional competitiveness while also储备 (building a reserve of) urgently needed general-purpose talent for the regional industry's digital transformation. "Especially for the group that has been out of school for one or two years without finding employment, we hope to activate their original professional backgrounds through the 'grafting' of AI skills, thereby promoting high-quality employment."
From forming the initial concept and completing venue renovations to faculty对接 (coordination) and curriculum design, within three months, the first phase of the Model-Data Academy's 3,000-square-meter space was established in the prime location of Zhujiang Road—Jinchuang Future City.
At the end of last October, a trainee recruitment notice in the class group chat caught Tan Zixin's attention. The phrases "free training," "direct employment pathway," and "no major restrictions" seemed like a new opportunity she could easily grasp—at the very least, a chance to get out and接触 (expose herself to) new things. Although she knew almost nothing about AI, she thought, "Trying is better than waiting idly."
"Here, I systematically familiarized myself with the AIGC toolchain, and creation became much more fluid than before," said Cheng Dongjian, a first-phase trainee and graduate of Jiangsu Second Normal University, who recently secured a position as an AIGC Content Engineer at the Hangzhou-based AI marketing company奥创光年 (Aochuang Guangnian). For her, these 35 days of intensive training constituted a "fundamental restructuring" of her思维方式 (way of thinking).
This power of restructuring was even more concretely体现 (embodied) in Tan Zixin, who ultimately received six job offers. She admitted that her previous understanding of AI was基本停留在 (basically limited to) "asking a chatbot when encountering a problem," but the answers were often too broad and difficult to apply directly to work. After the course training, "Now, my phone isn't just equipped with one or two apps, but an 'AI tool matrix' that I can call upon随时 (at any time) based on the task."
"Thirty-five days won't make you an AI expert, but it's enough to get started. For some who struggle to learn, the problem isn't technical; it's being stuck in固有思维 (conventional thinking patterns)," said Duan Tao, the training camp's Intelligent Agent course instructor and partner at Hangzhou Yinian Intelligent Technology. He believes traditional education fosters a "tool mindset," whereas in the AI era, people need to view AI as an all-day, online "thinking partner." "The core goal of our course is not just to teach students how to use specific software, but to重塑 (reshape) their instinctive reaction when solving problems—that is, the 'first-principle thinking': when encountering any problem, first consider how AI can参与解决 (participate in solving it), making AI a环节 (link) in the workflow."
"Essentially, we have completed a 'two-way calibration,' which is also why trainees can quickly get 'on the job'," explained Cheng Jie, Executive Dean of the Xuanwu Model-Data Academy. The intensive training精准对标 (precisely targets) the three most urgent directions for enterprises—AIGC content production, AI digital marketing, and intelligent agent applications. In terms of faculty, it involves frontline enterprise experts and university instructors共同担纲 (sharing leading roles); methodologically, it combines learning with practice, driving trainees to淬炼 (hone) their abilities by solving specific business problems through real project competitions.
"Starting from the first week of training, companies came recruiting with real job positions and project briefs. This was equivalent to bringing the market 'into' the classroom, allowing everyone to learn and try simultaneously, and giving us跨界的 (cross-disciplinary) individuals a chance to be 'seen directly'," Meng Yuan recalled, deeply impressed by this recruitment model integrated throughout the course. Thanks to this mechanism, many trainees secured job opportunities even before the course concluded.
The efficient对接 (matching) between trainees and employers also精准击中 (precisely hit) the pain points of中小企业的转型 (SMEs' transformation). "For a startup like ours, eager for智能化 (intelligentization) but with limited resources, recruiting from here is a practical and efficient path," admitted Tao Ran, head of Nanjing Mutewei Information Technology Co., Ltd. He stated that transformation for micro and small enterprises often doesn't require disruptive innovation, just the practical application of AI to traditional scenarios. "Hiring an 'AI newcomer' who has undergone intensive training and possesses relevant skills not only meets current development needs but also saves nearly half the personnel cost compared to market rates." Currently, the应届毕业生 (fresh graduate) recruited by Tao Ran from the academy has been working for over a month, and the intelligent tax tool they developed has entered the testing phase.
At the Model-Data Academy, several shared workstations and meeting rooms labeled "OPC创业社区 (OPC Entrepreneur Community)" are freely available to trainees. Here, there are no traditional corporate partitions or hierarchies. After learning basic AI skills, one person, one desk, and one computer can be the starting point for entrepreneurship.
It is precisely this open space that has催生 (spawned) an innovative possibility超越传统就业 (transcending traditional employment). "When a large number of young people use AI for entrepreneurship, what they need most is not a traditional office, but a platform that can provide projects, computing power, and a sense of community belonging," said Zhu Pengfei, formerly an industrial park investment manager. After participating in the training camp courses as an online student, he resolutely decided to build a "digital nomad" community serving AI entrepreneurs.
Zhu Pengfei's构想 (concept) coincided with Cheng Jie's vision. "This will be an online community that allows graduated trainees to持续接入市场 (continuously access the market) in a freer and more professional manner," Cheng Jie envisioned. The online community would play a dual role as a "task hub" and "talent marketplace": one end链接 (linking) to fragmented AI needs released by the government and enterprises (such as intelligent agent module development, promotional video production), and the other end open to trainees for them to随时远程 "揭榜"接单 (remotely 'accept the challenge' and take on tasks at any time), obtaining remuneration. "Furthermore, through regular exchange activities, we aim to维系社群温度 (maintain the community's warmth), increasing everyone's sense of belonging and cohesion." With the academy's support, Zhu Pengfei's "digital nomad" community project is加速走向现实 (accelerating towards reality).
The suggestions for the "十五五"规划 (15th Five-Year Plan) point out the need to promote high-quality and full employment, stabilize and expand employment for key groups such as university graduates, and推动 (promote) the healthy development of flexible employment and new forms of employment. From solving the employment of "one person" to cultivating the ecosystem of "a group of people," the exploration by the Xuanwu Model-Data Academy is an innovative example in the province that较早 (relatively early) systematically integrated AI技能实战培训 (practical skill training) with a high-quality employment and entrepreneurship ecosystem. "We cannot just be a 'crash course' that teaches skills; we must build a sustainable ecosystem that supports young people from stable 'employment' to brave 'entrepreneurship,' nurturing and retaining talent for the city's development," Shen Chao said.
Currently, the academy's物理边界 (physical boundaries) are also expanding simultaneously. Shao Rui introduced that the team plans to use the existing Zhujiang Road campus as a "中枢 (hub)," establishing branch campuses in industrial and talent集聚区 (clusters) such as Hongshan New City and Xuzhuang High-Tech Industrial Park, and collaborating with surrounding universities to共同编织 (jointly weave) a "one core, multiple points" campus network. Simultaneously, the academy is also conducting "短期专题营 (short-term thematic camps)" with universities like Southeast University, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, and Nanjing Forestry University, as well as related enterprises, moving from单一的就业培训 (single employment training) towards more diverse paths.
"After the Chinese New Year, our second training camp will launch," Cheng Jie revealed to the reporter. The academy is cooperating with Nanjing Mobile to共建 (co-build) an "Intelligent Computing Interconnection Scheduling Hub." Once completed, a dedicated network line will directly connect to a high-performance computing power pool. "This means that future trainees and entrepreneurs in the 'digital nomad' community can access cutting-edge computing power at low cost or even for free, allowing创意落地 (creative ideas to be implemented) without being constrained by hardware barriers."
"Encountering the Model-Data Academy was really特别幸运 (particularly lucky)," said Meng Yuan. In early January this year, she officially joined her new company as an Intelligent Agent Development Engineer. During her pre-job training, since the company was only a few steps away from the academy, she would often come back to visit. "The previous training helped me get started, but to go deeper and further on this AI path, continuous learning and consulting with teachers and peers are essential."
Meng Yuan's state of "常回来看看 (often coming back to look)"恰好印证 (precisely印证 (illustrates)) the vision the academy is building: from a "fast track" for solving employment, extending into a "sustainable ecosystem" supporting long-term career development. Here, "graduation" is not the endpoint of the connection between trainees and the academy, but the beginning of a deeper bond.
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