Since the ranking’s first edition in 2023, ITMO has been among the top three evaluated universities. The ranking is based on the demand for graduates of a particular university on the job market and thus includes a survey of 140 tech companies, as well as data provided by universities and open sources.
“ITMO is developing fundamental AI, which is the foundation for new solutions in the field. At the same time, we are adapting existing solutions for specific industry tasks, with clear and transparent implementation results. However, in the case of AI, it’s especially important to understand and learn to use the tools that are available now. At ITMO, we teach school teachers and university lecturers to do just that. It’s impossible to prioritize the development of a technology without its conscious implementation,” says ITMO Rector Vladimir Vasilyev.
ITMO’s consistent performance in the ranking is the result of the university’s systematic efforts on strategic AI development.
In 2025, the dedicated Institute of AI opened at the university; the department is now responsible for educational programs, research, and the full cycle of innovation. The university also received over 1 billion rubles for cutting-edge research to be implemented by the Research Center “Strong AI in Industry,” won the federal competition for the development of role-based competency models in AI; and was named among the winners of a competition by the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media, where ITMO was awarded over 350 million rubles for the development of top-level educational programs.
ITMO offers AI training for several levels of education. Apart from AI-focused educational programs, such as AI Talent Hub and AI360: ML Native, the university is also gradually implementing AI into other fields, from robotics and natural sciences to management. Additionally, ITMO offers continuing professional education programs for leaders and lecturers, where they can learn to introduce AI into business management and educational processes.
Alongside professional training, ITMO is also active in AI research. Among the solutions developed by ITMO scientists is ProAGI, a system that can accelerate the development of industrial AI by up to 10 times; Prosto.R, an urban planning platform; and CoScientist, a system for automating the entire research cycle in computational chemistry and medicine.
Industry partnerships are an important factor in AI development. ITMO implements academic and research projects in collaboration with major Russian tech companies and scientific centers, including Yandex, Sberbank, VK, Ozon, AIRI, and others.
