Opportunities do not fall into your lap, part 2

Whether you are a recent graduate wanting to learn how organizations select interns, or a senior business leader who wants to see how an internship can benefit your own organization, this four-part series will be of interest to you. Stay tuned for the next two parts, and if you missed the first one, don’t worry—you can dive in right here!

I’m Tony Nudd, Principal Agentic Automation Engineer for the Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ) region. As a veteran “UiPather” for over six years, I’ve witnessed UiPath adapt and respond to a fast-changing IT and business landscape. I began as a Solutions Consultant before moving into leadership as Director of the Solutions Engineering division for APJ Commercial. Now, in my current role, I have the privilege of mentoring many interns who represent the workforce of the future, shaping how business and technology will be adopted.

In this four-part series, I want to go beyond the title of “intern” and highlight the whole person. Over the past few months, I’ve had the chance to get to know our UiPath intern, Justin Liu, a talented Data Science student at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). From September to December 2024, Justin joined our team as a Data Scientist Intern, where he brought fresh perspectives and technical expertise to our projects. His dedication and achievements have not gone unnoticed—he was recently recognized as an AFR Top 100 Future Leader for 2025, a testament to his potential as a rising leader in the field.

But to fully understand Justin’s journey, you must first understand what we do. We, at UiPath, are on is on a mission to transform the future of work through agentic automation, empowering businesses to automate complex processes and unlock new levels of efficiency, innovation, and human potential. By harnessing the power of AI and automation, UiPath Platform™ and products are helping organizations reimagine how work gets done.

In this second blog post, let me share with you Justin's work experiences and what traits resonated with who we look for at UiPath. You will notice he's is not a passive player in his experiences, but seeks out opportunities.

A journey from consulting to community operations and beyond

Before venturing into agentic AI and robotic process automation at UiPath, Justin’s career was marked by a series of dynamic roles at some very influential technology firms. Each position brought new challenges and learning opportunities, shaping Justin into who he is today. This is a glimpse into his journey, exploring how his experiences in consulting, community operations, and data analytics highlighted how he aligns to our core values of bold, fast, immersed, and humble.

It is possible to be both Humble & Bold

Consulting is a world where predictability doesn’t exist, and that's exactly what drew Justin in. As a consulting intern at a global technology firm, he wasn’t just another intern ticking off tasks from a checklist. He was a problem-solver, a strategist, and someone who wanted to make a difference. Different clients and stakeholders required him to be adaptable, and learning about their stories and the problems that he needed to solve was crucial. The variety kept him on his toes, with consistent meetings with different clients, who would share their pain points and hopes for transformation. Collaborating with diverse teams taught Justin the importance of being humble and maintaining an open mind. This experience not only sharpened his analytical skills but also deepened his appreciation for teamwork and adaptability qualities carries into every professional challenge.

Justin’s role was about more than just analyzing spreadsheets and a company’s information. It was about connecting the dots and turning insights into actionable strategies. Afternoons were usually spent with data, sifting through numbers, extracting trends, and translating those patterns into narratives that could change the course of a business. Soon, he was often in front of clients, armed with presentations that turned existing data into compelling stories, convincing decision-makers of the best path forward. Justin learned to be bold, speaking up, making decisions, and confidently advocating for the best path forward.

After this experience, Justin took on roles within pro bono consulting groups, where he continuously developed his communication and storytelling skills. Leading and collaborating with teams, he learned the importance of initiative, collaboration, and the ability to guide diverse groups toward a common goal. These skills would also later serve him well in all his professional endeavours, including his next stop at community operations.

You must balance Immersed & Fast

At another major technology firm, Justin found himself in the dynamic world of community operations, where he served as both an operations and data analyst. Community Operations provided Justin the chance to be at the heart of the company, building support networks and dedicating himself to making an impact for the customer. This included driving data-driven decisions and empowering teams to act on insights to make a global impact.

Justin was responsible for building dashboards, crafting detailed queries, and uncovering key trends that could inform strategic decisions. His work involved diving deep into the data cycle. This started from extracting raw data with SQL from the company’s databases to cleaning and processing it and then conducting analyses to draw meaningful conclusions. Justin discovered the importance of being immersed. He found his passion in being customer-centric, taking ownership of his part in the projects, and ensuring his contributions left a lasting impact.

However, the tasks didn’t stop there. Justin took it upon himself to drive the creation of new metrics that could provide a clearer picture of the business's performance and help teams make informed decisions. These metrics were the result of iterative processes where he tested various approaches, refined methodologies, and validated results with teams across the globe. His goal was to deliver solutions that added value to the business, whether by optimizing workflows or identifying opportunities for improvement.

As part of this role, Justin regularly collaborated with cross-functional teams, presenting these new metrics and insights to senior stakeholders. He translated complex technical findings into digestible, actionable recommendations, ensuring that the solutions he developed were feasible and impactful. Through these experiences, he didn’t just learn how to work with data, but he understood how to make data work for the organization by driving decisions that could transform strategies and operations. Faced with high expectations, Justin learned to be fast, delivering under pressure and balancing speed with precision. His proactive approach and results-driven mindset became key drivers of his success, solidifying his ability to make meaningful contributions in a fast-paced environment.

For a closer look at life at UiPath, explore our culture stories on the Careers blog: Culture at UiPath.

Embrace the future of AI Automation (or be left behind)

Today, Justin finds himself at a turning point. His journey so far has taken him through consulting boardrooms, global meetings, and analyst workspaces where data is key. Yet, interestingly, at none of these places had AI been a central focus for his roles. Justin honed his skills through hands-on problem-solving, critical thinking, and effective communication. Now, at UiPath, he’s stepping into an entirely new arena where AI doesn’t just support the work—it reshapes it.

As a Business Analyst Intern, Justin is exploring how AI and automation can take tasks that once took hours and complete them in minutes. For him, this is an exciting opportunity to see if technology can truly step into the shoes of roles like the consultant, the operations analyst, and the data storyteller.

You have most likely heard enough from me, and in the next chapter, I hand over to Justin himself to describe his first-hand experiences of using AI not just as an “assistant” but as a “member of the team.”

If you're inspired by our story and eager to shape the future of work, why not take the next step? Explore our open internship roles on the UiPath Careers page and discover how you can be part of an innovative, fast-moving team that’s redefining automation.