How 1Password interns are building with AI

At 1Password, we’re empowering our people to explore how AI can help them learn faster, solve problems more creatively, and make meaningful contributions at every stage of their career. For our interns, that culture shows up in practical, everyday ways. AI can help make a large codebase feel more approachable, turn a confusing error message into a learning moment, or create space to think through an idea before writing the first line of code. Just as importantly, it helps them build confidence, ask better questions, and do their best thinking.

We spoke with two interns, Eileen Zhao and Kashish Garg, about what they’ve experimented with and what impact looks like as they use AI in their work at 1Password.

Meet Eileen, Developer Intern

Hi, I'm Eileen! I've been interning at 1Password for the past year across three teams: I started in Product Operations, moved to Knox (our design systems team), and I'm now on the Insights team. Outside of work, I love doing crosswords, lifting weights, reading, and playing video games. For a fun fact: I've been journaling every single day for the past 7.5 years!

How have you used AI during your year at 1Password?

I’ve had a lot of opportunities to experiment with AI in different contexts. In Product Operations, I used it to edit my writing and make sure my communications were concise and meaningful when working with different stakeholders. As a developer, I lean on AI most when I'm picking up new concepts, which happens a lot when you move between teams. It's great at explaining things and pointing me toward resources to dig deeper. I also use it for "rubber ducking" – talking through my thought process step-by-step before I start coding, which helps me organize my thinking before I write a single line.

Can you give us an example where AI helped you think through your ideas?

During my time on the Knox team, we had an internal hackathon where I got to fully lean into "vibe coding" for the first time. It was a low-stakes environment to just experiment and see how far I could go. The experience taught me a lot about AI's limitations – and confirmed for me that it does make silly errors you have to review to catch – but also showed me how quickly it can produce prototypes that help you visualize an idea before you commit to building it properly. 

How has AI helped you create impact during your internship?

Thoughtfully using AI has rapidly increased the pace of my learning. When I hit a problem, whether it's a cryptic error message, a tricky bug, or an unfamiliar concept, I can unblock myself much faster than I could on my own. It's also sped up repetitive tasks. For example, on a recent project I worked on, AI was great at scanning a large codebase and identifying areas that needed to be updated. On a broader level, having access to so many AI tools at 1Password has pushed me to keep developing my AI skills in a way that feels aligned with where the industry is going.

Meet Kashish, Developer Intern

Hi! I’m Kashish, a fifth-year Computer Science student at UBC and a Developer Intern here at 1Password. As part of the Developer Growth team, I get to help developers use 1Password securely in their workflows.

Some fun facts – I’m doing a second degree! I previously completed a Biology degree but decided to pursue Computer Science after taking an Intro to Python course. I’m also passionate about hackathons. I’ve participated in ten hackathons across Canada and the US over the past few years, and helped organize HackCamp, nwHacks, and cmd-f at UBC! Outside of tech, my main hobby is running – I’ve done four half-marathons and recently completed my first full marathon!

How are you using AI day-to-day?

One tool I’ve been enjoying is Dust, an AI agent connected to our internal resources like Notion and Jira. For complex tickets, it helps me quickly parse dense information and company-specific jargon. Earlier in my workflows, I’ve used AI to navigate our large codebase by pointing me toward relevant files and helping me understand how everything connects. Then towards the end of a task, I'll use it as a sanity check. AI helps me validate my approach and surface any edge cases I might have missed. It's become a natural part of how I move through work at every stage.

Tell us about something you’ve experimented with.

During my first week, my supervisor suggested using AI to onboard myself onto our codebase, which is something I'd never thought to do before. We work with a large cross-platform monorepo with shared core business logic and multiple native clients. Rather than blindly browsing thousands of files, I asked the AI agent for a structured overview. It walked me through what the repo does, how the client layers talk to the core, and where key areas like the data layer, API layer, and platform code live. It also pointed me to the right architecture docs to read first. It saved me from that overwhelming feeling of not knowing where to even begin.

How has AI helped you create impact during your internship?

AI has helped me move faster and learn more deeply, so I can focus on actually contributing to my team rather than getting stuck in the weeds. It's helped me organize my thoughts, navigate unfamiliar problems with more confidence, and accelerate the kind of learning that usually takes much longer as a new intern. What stands out to me is that 1Password doesn't just encourage AI use, but smart AI use, recognizing how powerful it is as a tool for growth and development. That culture has pushed me to be more intentional and creative about how I use it, which has made me a stronger developer overall.

What we’re building together

Eileen and Kashish’s experiences show what AI fluency looks like in action. They’re using AI to get unstuck, explore unfamiliar systems, test ideas, and learn more intentionally. They’re also learning how to bring their own context and judgment into the process. That balance is exactly what we’re working to nurture across 1Password.

We’re proud to see our interns bringing curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking to the future of work at 1Password. If you’re interested in doing meaningful work on a team that values learning, experimentation, and thoughtful innovation, we’d love for you to explore our internship and career opportunities. 

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