Helping People Land Better Jobs Using Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Generative AI is transforming how people enter the workforce, and staff at AIR are exploring how to harness it for good. AIR has teamed up with national technology training leader Per Scholas to launch the Accelerating Careers Through Artificial Intelligence (ACT-AI) project.
ACT-AI is a cutting-edge research study that will test how AI can improve job search and job attainment for aspiring tech professionals. This effort is being supported by the Sector Training Evidence-Building Project (STEP), a collaboration between Ascendium Education Group and MDRC.
AIR's Evaluations of the ACT-AI Study
Job placement supports are critical for helping people find jobs they can thrive in but there isn’t much known on how to do it well at scale. Answering this question is increasingly important as AI roils traditional pathways into the job market.
- Samia Amin, Principal Investigator
The study will unfold in two phases:
- Formative Evaluation: AIR is supporting Per Scholas in designing and testing AI-powered models that help their job seekers with resume building, interview preparation, and job matching. These models will be piloted across multiple sites, with data collected to assess performance.
- Implementation Evaluation: Insights from phase one will inform a single, scalable model deployed across courses and cohorts. AIR will study how job seekers and staff use AI tools, and track outcomes like job readiness, attainment rates, and time to employment. The study will leverage surveys, tool usage data, administrative data, and interviews.
Why Per Scholas?
Per Scholas offers its learners no-cost, high-quality training in IT support, software engineering, Java development, and cybersecurity. With more than 30,000 learners trained and proven long-term earnings gains, it’s a powerhouse in tech workforce development. Now, Per Scholas is embracing AI to scale its impact and, with AIR as its research partner, this effort will be more intentional and cost-effective.
By piloting and refining AI tools for job seekers, AIR and Per Scholas aim to uncover scalable strategies for supporting learners to achieve labor market success faster. This project builds on AIR’s prior work with intelligent tutoring systems for Per Scholas—early lessons from which are already shaping how Per Scholas adopts AI to boost learner success.
Findings from our new ACT-AI collaboration will be shared via a formative evaluation report (summer 2026), and a final implementation study report and blog post (summer 2028).
