From Curiosity to Impact: Inside the MongoDB Intern Experience

What does it look like to intern at MongoDB? The answer depends on the team, the project, and the people you meet along the way.

For Aashcharya Gorakh, the summer meant building and testing AI agents to help automate platform support. For Maria Jose Igartua, it meant creating an end-to-end solution for the energy industry and creating a demo. For Tyler Arcinaga, it meant working on a complex storage challenge while learning how to make design decisions, respond to feedback, and take ownership of the work. For Cristina Sánchez Sánchez, it meant simplifying local development while refining her professional skills.

Across different teams and experiences, one theme came through clearly: an internship is not just about completing an assignment. It’s an opportunity to learn from others, contribute to meaningful work, and become more confident in the way you approach problems.

Mentorship and growth

The best learning happens when someone takes the time to explain not only what needs to be done, but why it matters. At MongoDB, every intern is paired with a team mentor who serves as their primary support. Beyond team mentorship, interns can join the Intern Bridge Building Program to be paired with an Inclusion Guide from an employee resource or affinity group, and connect with their Early Talent Program Advisor in ongoing check-ins.

Through regular 1:1s, big-picture discussions, and informal coffee chats, this multi-layered support network helps make the transition from university to a corporate environment feel natural and empowering.

“They helped me understand not just what needed to be done, but why it mattered and how to think about creating something valuable for the users,” said Gurgaon-based software engineering intern Aashcharya about his team.

Cristina, a Dublin-based software engineering intern, saw how each form of mentorship played a distinct role in her growth: “Together with my manager, he's helped me identify areas where I can grow, so I can build more independence and sharpen my skills over time. On top of that, I have an Inclusion Guide from a completely different part of the business who helps me stay focused on my well-being and is someone I can talk to about anything. Finally, my Early Talent Program Advisor checks in with me regularly to make sure I feel comfortable on my team and have the support I need to keep growing at MongoDB.”

For Tyler, a software engineering intern based in New York City, growth came through a difficult code review. When feedback revealed downstream issues in a design he felt confident about, he had to rethink part of his approach. His mentor, Gayathri Padmanabhan, offered a simple perspective that stayed with him: “It’s just code at the end of the day, we can always change it.” 

“That one line reframed everything for me; a true engineer isn't someone who gets it right the first time, it's someone who can take feedback, refactor, and improve an idea. Growth this summer meant learning to see revision as the job itself, not a failure of it, and iterating toward the best viable product rather than defending my first draft. I carry that with me now in every piece of work I do, treating each version as a starting point rather than a finish line,” Tyler reflected.

Community and culture

An internship at MongoDB is defined as much by technical growth as by the connective moments that happen outside the project plan.

Connection starts on day one. For Aashcharya, that sense of belonging began with a welcome lunch on his first morning. An intern outing filled with bowling and games soon followed, giving interns and their teams space to bond beyond daily tasks. In Austin, industry solutions intern Maria experienced that same collaborative spirit during an evening of pizza and games at Cidercade. "It was very meaningful to me because other internships I've had usually prioritized individual work, and I never got to develop strong connections with other teammates. From the very first moment at MongoDB, it was all about team collaboration instead," Maria shared.

Shared experiences naturally turn peers into real friends. For Tyler, the highlight of the summer was a bagel-making class. While shaping dough was fun, the real value was seeing how closely the group connected. "It doesn’t feel cliquey at all," Tyler reflected. "I can sit down with pretty much anyone and have a great conversation."

These events also create unique bridges to leadership. During National Intern Day in Dublin, Cristina gathered with her peers and teammates for games and food. The celebration took an exciting turn when MongoDB’s Chief Marketing Officer, May Petry, joined for an impromptu ‘Ask Me Anything’ session. "Her genuine interest in our experiences made me feel that interns here are truly valued and heard," Cristina recalled.

Impact and project work

Interns contribute in different ways, but each project begins with a real problem to solve.

Making platform support more efficient - Aashcharya, Enterprise Advanced
Aashcharya worked on automating the platform support process for the Enterprise Advanced agent. The project involved building and testing AI agents, with each test helping make the system more efficient.

“It gave [me a] chance to work on real engineering problems, learn how large-scale systems operate, and contribute to something that could make workflows more efficient.”

Simplifying local development with Python - Cristina, Atlas API Experience

Cristina built an open-source Python binding for Atlas Local that makes it frictionless for AI developers to use Atlas Local. This lets people copy our AI Python notebook examples, including auto-embedding via Voyage, LangChain, RAG, and vector search, straight from the website and run them without needing any special setup on their machine.

“I’m excited that my work can simplify development for people experimenting with AI applications, Vector Search, or auto-embeddings, helping them skip the setup and get straight to building.”

Building an energy industry solution from the ground up - Maria, Industry Solutions

Maria worked on an end-to-end solution for the energy industry, an area that was new to her. “I got to build this solution from scratch all the way to the demo and content assets that will be shared around the MongoDB social channels.”

The project brought together research, problem-solving, technical work, communication, and collaboration. “This experience has helped me better understand how MongoDB creates impact beyond the technology itself, and centers around the customer journey, which I found very valuable”

Helping move toward a more elastic storage layer - Tyler, Storage Layer Services

Tyler worked on a way to change which page servers a log span is mapped to while continuing to serve reads, avoiding data loss, moving data efficiently, and recovering from crashes.

In simpler terms, the project supported a larger goal: helping the storage layer become more flexible as systems change. Tyler also had the opportunity to discuss tradeoffs with senior engineers, own critical design decisions, and earn buy-in for his approach before implementation began.

“That’s when ‘leaders act like owners’ stopped being just a noted leadership principle and started being something I actually felt in my day-to-day work.”

Reflections and advice

Looking back on their summer, MongoDB interns gained far more than technical knowledge; they learned how to collaborate in a global corporate workforce and take full ownership of impactful work.

For Aashcharya, the summer shifted his perspective on what engineering really means: “I learned how important it is to truly understand requirements, communicate clearly, and make sure everyone is aligned on what success looks like.”

Maria learned the importance of sustainable ways of working. Her mentor encouraged her to work within reasonable hours and communicate when priorities felt too heavy.

“I learned that in order to be a good team player, you have to care about the balance you put in. Having enough rest, doing activities you enjoy, and caring about your health will ultimately lead you to better results,” explained the Industry Solutions intern.

Tyler’s biggest takeaway was ownership. He was trusted to participate in design decisions, discuss tradeoffs with experienced engineers, and help shape the direction of his project.

Cristina details MongoDB as a great place to transition from university into a professional career. From the interview process to throughout the internship, she was provided an environment to receive and grow from feedback, while internalizing that you don’t need to know everything. Cristina highlights communication skills in her internship: “What matters more is communicating openly, so you can get unstuck quickly and keep learning along the way.”

Their experiences offer a useful message for future interns: bring curiosity, ask questions, stay open to feedback, and look for opportunities to contribute beyond the task immediately in front of you.