Cloudflare to offer 1,111 global internships & expand student support

Cloudflare has announced plans to recruit 1,111 interns in 2026 as part of an expanded commitment to providing hands-on technology experience for university students worldwide.

The company, known for its connectivity cloud services, is increasing its internship programme from around 60 participants to a global cohort that aims to provide practical training and direct mentorship at its offices in several international hubs, including Austin, San Francisco, New York, Bengaluru, Lisbon, and London.

Internship expansion

This major expansion comes at a time when student pathways into technology roles face significant disruption. According to data cited by Cloudflare, entry-level opportunities have declined as companies increase their focus on artificial intelligence automation. Employment for workers aged 22 to 25 in roles most exposed to AI, such as software engineering and customer service, has allegedly dropped by as much as 13% since late 2022. In addition, the tech internship job market is facing constraints, with Handshake reporting a 30% decline in tech-specific internship postings since 2023.

"We have always believed times of great transition can also be moments of great opportunity - we founded Cloudflare during a financial crisis and doubled our intern numbers during the pandemic when other companies were cutting back," said Matthew Prince, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cloudflare. "Now, when getting a job out of school has never been harder, we're leaning in and offering a training ground for the next generation. And while many companies see AI as a way to replace jobs, we see this next generation as a way to bring the best uses of AI into Cloudflare. There's a lot we can learn from interns who grew up building with AI as a first class tool."

Interns participating in Cloudflare's new "Intern-et" programme will have opportunities to contribute to real-world projects, including developing serverless applications and supporting network infrastructure. Recruitments are planned throughout 2026 across all listed Cloudflare hubs, where students will have in-person access to senior company leadership and dedicated mentorship.

Supporting student innovation

Cloudflare has also unveiled additional measures to support students in technology, particularly those based at US universities. All post-secondary students in the United States with a valid .edu email address will have one year of free access to Cloudflare Workers, the company's serverless application platform. This is designed to allow students to deploy code directly onto Cloudflare's network and test or launch new applications without upfront cost.

In a further initiative to encourage collaboration, selected start-up companies building on Cloudflare's platform will be eligible to use company office space in Austin, Lisbon, London, or San Francisco from January 2026. The arrangement will enable these start-ups to work alongside Cloudflare staff and other builders, with access to collaboration zones and opportunities to connect with additional users.

Startup ecosystem engagement

Start-up support continues with Cloudflare's ongoing credit allocation programme. Over the last year, Cloudflare states it has provided more than USD $370 million in credits to over 4,000 eligible start-ups, with more than 900 of these start-ups reportedly raising a combined total of over USD $5 billion in funding. The Cloudflare for Startups programme enables qualifying companies to access up to USD $250,000 worth of Cloudflare's services, aiming to help them scale their operations by reducing time and resource constraints.

Eligible college students interested in the expanded internship programme, or US students seeking no-cost access to developer tools, are encouraged to explore avenues for participation. Information for start-ups looking to apply to Cloudflare's office space initiative or its startup credit programme is available through company channels.