计算机与人工智能学院（软件学院）创建于1999年，现有计算机科学与技术、网络工程、软件工程、数据科学与大数据技术、人工智能五个本科专业，其中“计算机科学与技术”专业为国家级一流本科专业建设点、湖南省普通高校“十三五”专业综合改革试点专业，学校重点建设专业；“软件工程”专业为国家级一流本科专业建设点；“计算机科学与技术”、“网络工程”为学校卓越工程师教育培养计划试点专业。在湖南省普通高校专业综合评价中，计算机科学与技术、网络工程和软件工程三个专业分别获得全省排名B类第2、B类第3和B类第4。“计算机应用技术”为学校“十三五”重点建设学科，“控制科学与工程”为湖南省“双一流”应用特色学科。“湖南省计算机类专业大学生创新训练中心”为湖南省示范训练中心，“计算机类专业校企合作人才培养基地”为湖南省示范基地，“计算机类大学生创新创业教育中心”为湖南省创新创业教育中心。计算机与人工智能学院（软件学院）现有专业教师62人，其中教授、副教授21人、讲师、工程师24人；具有博士、硕士研究生学历教师56人；省级121创新人才1人；五溪人才1人；省级、校级骨干青年教师7人。
计算机与人工智能学院（软件学院）拥有湖南省高校重点实验室-武陵山片区健康大数据智能处理与应用、怀化市重点实验室-智能信息技术研究与应用、怀化市重点实验室-医养健康智能感知与计算”等学科平台；拥有中央与地方共建的计算机技能基础实验中心和特色优势学科实验室-数据学科与大数据训练分析中心；建有大学生ACM程序设计实训中心等10余个创新创业实践实训基地；建有“大湾区校友企业联盟-软件创新创业基地、广州粤嵌-国家级众创空间、怀化市网络空间安全人才培养基地”等校、企、政合建校内实训基地；与腾讯云、深信服、上海杰普软件等20多家企业建立了校外实践教学基地。该院注重学生工程实践能力的培养，秉承工程教育的理念，面向应用培养人才，着重在专业课程设置、校企共建实验室、工程实训、企业实习锻炼和学生课外科技创新活动等方面打造办学的特色。
计算机与人工智能学院（软件学院）始终坚持开放办学的理念，已与美国索尔兹伯里大学、圣克劳德州立大学、伯特利大学等建立合作办学，采用本科学历教育“2+2”、“3+1”模式，本硕连读；已开办校企合作“软件工程师班”、“嵌入式工程师班”、“物联网工程师班”、“大数据技术工程师班”，全面推行人才培养新模式。
近年来，计算机与人工智能学院（软件学院）加大了教学团队建设，先后组建了程序设计类教学团队（校级）和网络工程类教学团队（校级）。以教学名师、教授为带头人，以副教授、讲师为主体，以教研室、实验室、创新训练基地等为建设单位，以课程或专业（群）为建设平台，陆续创建了30余门课程的网络教学平台，并开发设计了60余个有利于培养学生实践实训的信息系统。学院现有“高级语言程序设计”、“计算机网络”等省级以上一流本科课程6门，有“数据结构”、“计算机专业英语”等校级一流本科课程9门。
计算机与人工智能学院（软件学院）本着以科研促教学的原则，正确处理教学与科研的关系，在保证教育教学质量的基础上，不断加大科研工作力度，进一步提升了院部的科研水平和科研质量。学院积极打造科研和学术平台，加强学术交流，积极主办、承办计算机相关领域国际学术会议，邀请国内外专家来学院作学术报告（讲座）。近年来，先后获国家自科基金项目4项，承担省部级以上科研项目50余项，获省部级科研成果奖1项，授权发明专利20余项，实用新型专利200余项，在SCI、EI等核心期刊上发表论文100余篇。
计算机与人工智能学院（软件学院）积极鼓励教师参与服务地方工作，探索与建立“教学、科研、服务”三位一体的发展机制，通过已建立的科研团队、创新基地和相应的服务团队，主动服务、产教融合，为地方经济建设、信息化建设、科技应用、社会服务等提供原动和技术平台，每年承担大量企事业单位委托的技术开发和科技攻关项目，服务地方经济建设，并带领学生积极参与项目研发，培养学生的创新创业能力，提高学生的就业质量，人才培养质量和办学声誉得到社会认可和赞誉，育人效果显著。
计算机与人工智能学院（软件学院）注重学生综合素质的全面发展，重视学生创业意识、创新能力的培养，把学生的课外活动、学科竞赛、科技活动作为培养创新人才的重要环节。学生在国际大学生ACM亚洲片区赛多次获得银奖、铜奖。近四年来，学生在ACM大学生程序设计竞赛、“互联网+”大学生创新创业大赛、“挑战杯”竞赛、“蓝桥杯”全国软件和信息技术专业人才大赛、中国高校计算机大赛、中国大学生计算机设计大赛等学科比赛中获得各类国家级、省级奖项500余项。学院涌现出了郑兴勤、付李军、刘海清、陈诺、向九九、李浩等一批创新创业先驱者，学生就业率一直名列学校前茅，历届毕业生深受用人单位好评。
The School of Computer and Artificial Intelligence (School of Software) was established in 1999. There are currently five undergraduate majors in Computer Science and Technology, Network Engineering, Software Engineering, Data Science and Big Data Technology, and Artificial Intelligence. Among them, the "Computer Science and Technology" major is a national first-class undergraduate major construction point, a comprehensive reform pilot major for the "13th Five Year Plan" major in ordinary universities in Hunan Province, and a key construction major of the school. The "Software Engineering" major is also a national first-class undergraduate major construction point. Both "Computer Science and Technology" and "Network Engineering" are pilot majors under the university's Outstanding Engineer Education and Training Program. In the comprehensive evaluation of majors in Hunan's ordinary higher education institutions, Computer Science and Technology, Network Engineering, and Software Engineering ranked 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively among B-category majors in the province. "Computer Application Technology" is a Key Subjects Construction during the 13th Five-Year Plan, and "Control Science and Engineering" is a "Double First Class" applied characteristic discipline in Hunan Province. The "Hunan Province Computer Science Major College Students Innovation Training Center" is a demonstration training center in Hunan Province, the "Computer Related Professional School Enterprise Cooperation Talent Training Base" is a demonstration base in Hunan Province, and the "Computer Science College Students' Innovative Entrepreneurial Education Center" is an innovation and entrepreneurship education center in Hunan Province. The School of Computer and Artificial Intelligence (School of Software) currently has 62 professional teachers, including 21 professors and associate professors, 24 lecturers and engineers; 56 teachers hold doctoral or master's degrees; 1 teacher is a provincial-level "121 Innovative Talent"; 1 teacher is a "Wuxi Talent"; and 7 teachers are provincial-level or university-level backbone young teachers.
The School of Computer and Artificial Intelligence (School of Software) boasts a number of academic platforms, such as the Key Laboratory of Hunan Provincial Universities and Colleges, specifically the "Intelligent Processing and Application of Health Big Data in Wuling Mountain Area," as well as the Huaihua Key Laboratories, namely the "Research and Application of Intelligent Information Technology" and the "Intelligent Perception and Computing for Medical and Healthcare Care." It houses a basic computer skills experimental center jointly established by the central and local governments, along with a laboratory for distinctive and advantageous disciplines, namely the Data Science and Big Data Training & Analysis Center. It has established more than 10 innovation and entrepreneurship practice bases, including the ACM Programming Training Center for University Students, and school-enterprise-government co-constructed practice bases within the school, such as the "Greater Bay Area Alumni Enterprise Alliance—Software Innovation and Entrepreneurship Base," the "Guangzhou Yueqian—National Maker Space," and the "Huaihua City Cyberspace Security Talent Training Base." It has established off-campus practical teaching bases with more than 20 enterprises, including Tencent Cloud, Sangfor Technologies Inc., and Briup Technology, Inc. The school focuses on cultivating students' engineering practice abilities, adhering to the concept of engineering education, and nurturing talent for practical applications. It emphasizes creating distinctive educational features in areas such as professional curriculum design, school-enterprise co-construction of laboratories, engineering training, corporate internships, and extracurricular scientific and technological innovation activities for students.
The School of Computer and Artificial Intelligence (School of Software) has always adhered to the concept of open education. It has established cooperative educational programs with Salisbury University, St. Cloud State University, and Bethel University in the United States, adopting the "2+2" and "3+1" undergraduate education models, as well as integrated undergraduate and graduate studies. It has also launched "Software Engineer Classes," "Embedded Engineer Classes," "IoT Engineer Classes," and "Big Data Technology Engineer Classes" through school-enterprise cooperation, comprehensively promoting a new model of talent cultivation.
In recent years, the School of Computer and Artificial Intelligence (School of Software) has intensified the development of its teaching teams, establishing a programming teaching team (at the school level) and a network engineering teaching team (also at the school level). Led by renowned teaching professors and headed by associate professors and lecturers, with teaching and research sections, laboratories, and innovation training bases as the construction units, and courses or majors (clusters) as the construction platforms, the school has successively created online teaching platforms for over 30 courses and developed more than 60 information systems conducive to students' practical training. Currently, the school boasts 6 provincial-level or higher first-class undergraduate courses such as "Advanced Language Programming" and "Computer Networks," as well as 9 provincial first-class undergraduate courses including "Data Structures" and "Computer Professional English."
The School of Computer and Artificial Intelligence (School of Software) adheres to the principle of promoting teaching through scientific research and correctly handles the relationship between teaching and scientific research. On the basis of ensuring the quality of education and teaching, it has continuously intensified its research efforts, further enhancing the research level and quality of the school. The college actively builds scientific research and academic platforms, strengthens academic exchanges, and actively hosts and sponsors international academic conferences in computer-related fields, inviting experts from home and abroad to deliver academic reports (lectures) at the college. In recent years, it has successively obtained 4 National Nature Science Foundation of China grants, undertaken more than 50 research projects at or above the provincial and ministerial levels, won 1 provincial and ministerial-level scientific research achievement award, been granted over 20 invention patents and more than 200 utility model patents, and published more than 100 papers in core journals such as SCI and EI.
The School of Computer and Artificial Intelligence (School of Software) actively encourages teachers to participate in serving the local work and explores and establishes a trinity development mechanism of "teaching, scientific research, and service." Through established research teams, innovation bases, and corresponding service teams, it actively engages in industry-education integration by providing impetus and technological platforms for local economic development, information construction, technology application, and social services. Each year, it undertakes numerous technology development and scientific and technological research projects entrusted by enterprises and institutions to serve local economic development. It also leads students to actively participate in project research and development, cultivating their innovation and entrepreneurship abilities and improving their employment quality. The quality of talent cultivation and the reputation of the school have been recognized and praised by society, with remarkable educational outcomes.
The School of Computer and Artificial Intelligence (School of Software) emphasizes the comprehensive development of students' overall qualities and places great importance on nurturing their entrepreneurial awareness and innovative capabilities. It regards extracurricular activities, academic competitions, and scientific and technological activities as crucial aspects in cultivating innovative talents. Students have won silver and bronze awards multiple times in the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ACM-ICPC) Asia Regional Contests. Over the past four years, students have won more than 500 national and provincial awards in various academic competitions such as the ACM-ICPC, the "Internet+" College Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, the "Challenge Cup" Competition, the "Blue Bridge Cup" National Software and Information Technology Professionals Competition, the China Collegiate Computing Contest, and the China Undergraduate Computer Design Contest. The school has produced a number of pioneering innovators and entrepreneurs such as Zheng Xingqin, Fu Lijun, Liu Haiqing, Chen Nuo, Xiang Jiujiu, and Li Hao. The employment rate of its students has always ranked among the top in the school, and its graduates have received favorable reviews from employing units.