For ten weeks this summer, Shipt’s corporate offices and virtual channels buzzed with new energy as 20 talented interns stepped into the organization to learn, innovate, and build. 

Designed to deliver an immersive, hands-on professional journey, Shipt’s Summer 2026 Internship Program — led by Program Manager - Recruiting Operations, Megan Hardin — gave college students nationwide the opportunity to tackle real-world business challenges, collaborate directly with executive leaders, and leave a lasting impact on Shipt’s platform and community.  

Bridging Professional Development and Culture

Throughout the program, the cohort was grounded in four core pillars: exposure, development, involvement, and community. Interns gained broad organization-wide perspective through departmental shadowing and leadership coffee chats with executive leaders like Shipt CEO, Kamau Witherspoon; Chief Technology Officer, Smrutha Ipparthi; and Chief Financial Officer, Stephanie Revish. 

Alongside their day-to-day team contributions, the cohort also sharpened their technical and professional skills through dedicated Learning & Development series, self-guided learning modules, and Employee Resource Group activations. 

Beyond the work, the cohort built strong personal connections with their teams and with one another through weekly group meetings, in-office hub lunches in Birmingham and San Francisco, and a shared team soundtrack — their official Shipt Summer 2026 Intern Playlist features songs from Cage the Elephant, Oliver Tree, and the Bee Gees.

Tackling Real-World Challenges with Big Ideas

The summer program culminated with the 2026 Intern Showcase, where each intern presented their capstone projects to team members across the company. Their projects spanned critical business areas, from artificial intelligence and marketing campaigns to engineering infrastructure and financial modeling.  

In product management, returning intern, Austin Bishop, introduced an AI-powered fulfillment tool designed to solve out-of-stock substitution friction. Reflecting on his technical journey, Austin shared, "As a product intern with an informal technical background, I was able to work across the full development stack, [and] ship around 30,000+ lines of code in about six weeks."  

On the marketing front, Mary Foster focused her efforts on deepening Shipt's local brand roots through the 2026 Hometown Campaign, organizing micro-influencer partnerships, local media coverage, and community activations in Birmingham. "I learned that confidence doesn't always come from having all the answers," Mary reflected. "It's about asking the right questions, taking initiative, and sharing all my ideas. My favorite part of being here at Shipt is the people. Shipt's community really can't be beat."  

In product marketing, Meghan Kellum designed a comprehensive go-to-market strategy for the upcoming Shared Memberships feature, projecting significant lifts in member engagement and order volume. "I'm so grateful to everyone on the team who helped me, and there are so many key learnings that I could talk about — to always be curious, to think more deeply about the process rather than to be strictly results-oriented, and noting that you never have to iterate alone," Meghan noted.  

Engineering and infrastructure solutions were also central to the showcase. Data DevOps intern, Sam Seeman, created an AI troubleshooting assistant designed to diagnose complex technical issues instantly. "When I first got here, I kind of fought with some of the workflows," Sam shared. "But as I began to use those methods, I began to realize that they not only made me less likely to break stuff, but also a much better team member overall. I also learned to just jump into projects."

Meanwhile, Public Affairs intern, Virginia Hefelfinger, led a legislative storytelling campaign in Michigan that highlighted how flexible earning opportunities empower local educators and support workers. "Flexible work is impacting the lives of those across the country, and our goal is to continue telling these human stories," Virginia explained. "Shipt has a special sauce, and it [comes from] the human-centric nature and the relationships that you're able to build while you're here."  

Celebrating a Summer of Innovation and Connection

And these projects just scratch the surface of what our intern class accomplished this summer! As the 2026 summer internship program comes to a close, Shipt celebrates the creativity, dedication, and measurable impact brought by this year's cohort. Their work has demonstrably helped move the business forward, and we wish them continued success as they step into the next chapter of their careers.

Want to learn more about working at Shipt? Explore open roles and opportunities on our Careers site.