Two Interns, One Mission: Shaping Tech’s Future

• • Two Dell Technologies interns turned classroom learning into real-world impact through hands-on projects and ownership.
  • Sophia Hassanally gained customer-facing experience in presales, learning how communication and problem-solving drive successful technology solutions.
  • Lynn Kwon explored the intersection of product marketing and agentic AI, developing strategic storytelling skills around emerging technologies.
  • Mentorship, collaboration and autonomy helped both interns build confidence and accelerate their professional growth.
  • Their experiences highlight how Dell’s internship programs empower students to contribute meaningfully while shaping the future of technology.

Technology careers rarely follow a straight line. For Sophia Hassanally, a presales solutions architect Intern, and Lynn Kwon, an undergraduate product marketing intern, the path led to Dell Technologies, where both found something more than a summer role — they found a place to grow, contribute and discover what they’re capable of. Their stories are different by discipline but connected by a shared experience: what it means to do meaningful work early in a career.

Learning by doing: Sophia’s journey in presales

Sophia entered her internship with a background in technology and a curiosity about how businesses actually solve problems. Working within the Presales organization, she quickly learned that designing solutions for customers requires more than technical knowledge. It requires listening.

“You have to understand what a customer is trying to accomplish before you can recommend anything,” Sophia reflects. “The technical side matters, but the conversation matters more.”

Her days involved working alongside experienced solutions architects, contributing to customer-facing engagements and building out her ability to translate complex technology into clear, practical recommendations. The STEM Aspire Program gave her a structured foundation to develop those skills, connecting her with peers and mentors who helped her navigate an organization as large and multifaceted as Dell.

What surprised her most wasn’t the scope of the work — it was the level of trust extended to her from the start. She wasn’t shadowing from the sidelines — she was contributing to real conversations with real customers, which pushed her to sharpen both her confidence and her communication skills, faster than she expected.

From classroom to strategy: Lynn’s work in product marketing

Lynn’s internship sat at the intersection of market research, storytelling and emerging technology. As an undergraduate product marketing intern, she focused on understanding how the PC fits into an AI-driven infrastructure landscape and where Dell has the opportunity to lead in that conversation.

Her primary project centered on agentic AI, a growing area where AI systems can take autonomous actions to complete tasks, and how the PC serves as critical infrastructure for that capability. As organizations begin building workflows around these AI systems, the devices running them matter more than ever.

“I had to understand not just what the technology does, but why it matters to the people using it,” Lynn says. “That’s the challenge of marketing: making something technical feel relevant and real.”

Her mentor, Lenard, played a significant role in that development. He pushed her to think beyond the surface of a market opportunity and consider the strategic narrative behind it. The STEM Aspire Program reinforced that thinking, providing Lynn with a broader community of early-career professionals who were navigating similar challenges across different parts of the business.

What both interns took away

Sophia and Lynn arrived at Dell from different academic and professional backgrounds, but the lessons they carried out of their internships share common ground.

• • Communication is a technical skill. Whether designing a customer solution or building a product narrative, the ability to explain clearly and concisely is just as important as subject matter knowledge.
  • Mentorship accelerates growth. Both interns credit the people around them — from managers to program peers — as central to how quickly they developed.
  • Autonomy builds confidence. Neither intern spent her summer waiting for assignments. They were given space to own their work, which made the experience genuinely formative.

Dell’s culture of inclusion and mentorship didn’t feel like a program talking point to either of them. It showed up in daily interactions, in the feedback they received and in the way their contributions were treated as valuable rather than supplemental.

Start your own story at Dell

The technology industry needs people who can think across disciplines, bridge strategy and execution and bring fresh perspectives to complex problems. That’s exactly the kind of talent Dell Technologies is building through its internship and student programs.

If you’re a student or early-career professional ready to do work that matters, explore Dell Technologies internship and student program opportunities at dell.com/careers. Your path starts here.