The popular ReliaQuest Labs experiential learning program is expanding this fall with a new software engineering track that gives students the experience of working inside a professional software engineering environment and contributing to real-world projects.
The software engineering track builds on the college’s existing security operations program, which provides students hands-on cybersecurity experience alongside ReliaQuest professionals. The expansion extends that industry-based learning model to students pursuing careers in software development, artificial intelligence engineering and product development.
“This expansion gives students another opportunity to apply what they learn in the classroom to real industry projects,” Bellini College Launch Dean Sudeep Sarkar said. “Programs like ReliaQuest Labs are an important part of our commitment to experiential learning, giving students opportunities to work on real challenges with industry partners before they graduate.”
Both programs are already accepting applications. Students can learn more about both tracks during an information session at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16, in the second-floor auditorium of C.W. Bill Young Hall.
Register now for the information session.
The ReliaQuest Labs program, which was established at USF in 2018, provides students with hands-on experience that complements the in-class curriculum. More than 300 USF students from multiple colleges have graduated from the program since its inception, with the vast majority accepting jobs at ReliaQuest or other leading cybersecurity employers.
“Cybersecurity is the greatest technical challenge of our generation, and with AI reshaping the threat landscape, it’s only getting more complex,” ReliaQuest founder and CEO Brian Murphy said. “Our partnership with USF has always been about making sure students graduate ready to seize that opportunity, and this investment helps do that on a broader scale.”
The expansion of the program was made possible through a $1.5 million investment from ReliaQuest to expand AI and cybersecurity programming within the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing. The investment provides for the expansion of the program and establishes the ReliaQuest Professorship in AI and Cybersecurity, the Bellini College’s first endowed faculty position.
“Our partnership with ReliaQuest continues to create meaningful opportunities for students to learn through real-world experience,” Sarkar said. “What began as a successful cybersecurity program has evolved to include software engineering and AI, reflecting both student interests and workforce needs.”
Software engineering track launch
In the new program, students will work in teams on live projects connected to GreyMatter, ReliaQuest’s agentic AI security operations platform. Rather than completing simulated classroom exercises, students will plan, build, review and deploy applications aligned with active ReliaQuest projects and evaluated against production-level standards.
The program will accept approximately 20 students for its first software engineering cohort. It includes four Friday lab sessions at ReliaQuest’s Tampa headquarters, along with independent work between sessions. Students also will have access to mentor office hours and opportunities to work on-site during the weeks between labs.
Working in teams of four, students will tackle projects affecting GreyMatter, including potential work involving Agentic Teammates, AI personas designed to act as virtual members of security operations teams.
The software engineering track is designed to mirror the stages of the professional software development process. That begins with initial research and planning through coding, review, deployment and presentation.
Through four lab sessions, students will move through the software development process. They will define project requirements, develop user stories and write production-level code. Teams will then review and revise their work based on feedback from AI-assisted tools, their peers and ReliaQuest engineers. At the end of the program, students will deploy their applications and present their work to senior ReliaQuest engineers.
Living the experience
The experiences of students in the security operations track show how the ReliaQuest Labs program can help students explore their career interests and develop the practical skills needed in a professional work environment.
Karishma Tallreja graduated from the ReliaQuest Labs program in the spring, and it’s helped her better understand her technical strengths and explore the areas of cybersecurity she enjoys.
“Working through the different modules exposed me to several areas of security and helped me narrow down my interests, particularly toward areas such as detection engineering and incident response,” she said.
The opportunity to learn how emerging technologies are being applied in cybersecurity led Tallreja to the program.
“What initially interested me in ReliaQuest Labs was the opportunity to learn more about how emerging technologies, including agentic AI, are being used in cybersecurity,” she said. “I was curious about the work ReliaQuest does and wanted to gain hands-on technical experience while also exploring an opportunity that could help open doors to future internships and careers in cybersecurity.”
Nathan Leung also completed the program in the spring before interning with ReliaQuest this summer. He said the experience gave him a clearer understanding of daily work in defensive cybersecurity.
“I got to work with very talented professionals in the field of cybersecurity, and I learned a lot from them as well,” he said. “It showed me what cybersecurity really looked like on the defensive side of things on a day-to-day basis, and it gave me the know-how on how to work through security alerts from start to finish.”
Although she only graduated from the ReliaQuest Labs program in the spring, she’s already putting that experience to use through a recent internship with Google, where she encountered many of the same concepts and technologies she worked with in the ReliaQuest program.
“Having experience with different types of logs, correlating security data, industry tools, and concepts such as detection rules gave me a strong foundation and made it much easier to follow technical discussions because I had already seen how many of these concepts worked in practice,” Tallreja said.
Applications for both tracks are due Oct. 1, and each track requires a separate application. The fall 2026 labs will be held Oct. 23 and 30 and Nov. 6 and 13, followed by graduation Nov. 20 at ReliaQuest headquarters in Tampa.