We hired high school grads into real roles. Here's what we learned.
Why we're doubling down on AI-native, early talent and what we're changing.
February 25, 2026
By Diana McLachlan, Chief People Officer
Last year, we hired four high school graduates - without resumes or degrees - into a year-long rotational program called Launchpad. We pay them competitively, give them benefits and mentorship, and put them on real teams doing real work.
We asked three questions: Why Wealthsimple? What have you built? And what would you improve here?
We were testing our conviction that the best signal for early talent isn't credentials. It's curiosity, ownership, and judgment - especially the instinct to reach for AI tools not as a novelty, but as a natural extension of how you solve problems. Here's what actually happened.
They ship real work, fast.
Every manager said the same thing: these interns operate with a level of technical agency that surprised them. They don't wait for instructions. They identify problems and build solutions, sometimes using AI tools their managers haven't fully explored yet.
One of our Launchpad interns, Stella, built a tool to reduce hallucinations in an AI chatbot. Greg, another intern, was contributing production code within his first week on a new team. Junaid built a fully functional internal bot during an eight-hour hackathon. Noah, 17 on his first day, reached out unprompted to ask about new products for young people - then did the competitive research and UX exploration to back it up.
These aren't sandbox exercises. They're the kind of work that saves teams real time and ships to real users.
We also got things wrong.
Because Launchpad was new, we optimized for speed over structure - and it showed. Some rotations came together quickly, which meant managers had less time than they needed to scope projects and prepare onboarding. The best rotations were the ones where teams had clear, meaty problems ready from day one.
We also learned that where you place an intern shapes everything. On teams with modern AI tools and clear technical problems, their instincts compounded fast. On teams with more process-heavy or legacy work, the fit was harder - not because the interns couldn't adapt, but because the work didn't let their strongest skills shine.
And the interns themselves told us something humbling: they want more structured learning. Not hand-holding, but real pathways. Financial literacy, full-stack development, how a product moves from idea to production across legal, compliance, and engineering. They're hungry for context that on-the-job experience alone can't provide fast enough.
What this told us about AI fluency
These interns don't treat AI as just a tool. It's woven into how they solve problems from the start. They prototype faster, automate the boring parts earlier, and pressure-test ideas before investing hours of work in the wrong direction.
What we're building for Launchpad 2.0
- Rotation matching gets more intentional. Interns will have input into what teams they’ll join. We'll assess team readiness before placement. If a team can't point to a meaningful problem for an intern to own, they're not ready to host one.
- Managers get real preparation before interns arrive. We’ll give them six to eight weeks’ notice along with detailed profiles of their new direct reports. They’ll also receive clear guidance on how to scope projects and coach younger talent.
- Structured learning becomes part of the program. We’ll provide Launchpad interns with financial literacy and professional skills training, technical development, and the basics of how Wealthsimple’s business functions across teams, all led by internal experts.
- The interns help select the next cohort. No one can speak to this program better than the people who’ve lived it.
Were we right?
Some of our interns will go to university. Some may come back after they graduate. Some may start their own companies. All of those are good outcomes.
Launchpad isn't about building a hiring pipeline. It's about identifying high-potential people earlier and giving them room to grow into whatever they're going to become.
The answer, one year in, is yes - with real caveats, real lessons, and a much clearer picture of what it takes to do this well.
The talent is out there. It's younger than you think, more capable than you'd expect, and already fluent in the tools that will define the next decade of work. The question isn't whether to invest in them. It's whether you'll recognize them early enough.
Launchpad 2.0 applications open February 25, 2026. We're looking for curious, resourceful builders taking a gap year. No degree required. [Apply here.]