Skyscanner founder Williams to mentor scholarship intern
One of the founders of Skyscanner, the high-flying tech unicorn founded in Edinburgh in 2003, is to take a paid intern under his wing as part of a flagship scholarship scheme.
Gareth Williams, co-founder and former chief executive of the travel search site that was acquired by chinese g ian tc trip Group in 2016 in a deal valued at £1.4 billion, will host and mentor an intern this year as part of Entrepreneurial Scotland’s Saltire Scholars programme. The scheme is currently recruiting organisations to host additional scholars this summer, with the deadline for taking part being the end of April.
The Saltire Scholars initiative matches organisations around the world with pre-vetted undergraduate students. Successful candidates are asked to deliver impactful projects of commercial significance during a summer internship. The prestigious programme has helped launch the careers of almost 2,000 people since 2007.
Williams will take the lucky intern under his wing for a tenweek internship, where they will work directly with him on an artificial intelligence (AI) data project. It is being billed as an opportunity for Williams – who has gone on to invest and back a number of ventures – to benefit from the “latest skills and fresh perspectives” of an undergraduate, while imparting his decades of leadership experience.
He said: “Future leaders need to be nurtured if we are to build a successful economy that can support the Scotland we all want to see. I was impressed by the level of work that goes into uncovering these high potential young people and I know I can get useful work done whilst supporting their journey. I urge other business leaders to consider hosting an intern through the programme. The companies that participated in previous years are coming back offering even more placements. That’s a clear sign to me that this programme works.” entrepreneurial
Scotland is seeking new organisations to join its scholarship scheme as hosts this summer. Businesses and entrepreneurial leaders in Scotland have the opportunity to host interns for up to 12 weeks, where they will deliver a project of their choice.