diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 464ce48047..90343dd650 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -1,22 +1,26 @@
-pytest:
-  image: gitlab-registry.cern.ch/fastmachinelearning/hls4ml-testing:0.2.base
+stages:
+  - generate
+  - trigger
+  - test
+
+generator:
+  stage: generate
+  image: python:3.7-alpine
   tags: 
     - docker
   before_script:
-    - source ~/.bashrc
-    - git submodule init
-    - git submodule update
-    - conda activate hls4ml-testing
-    - pip install .[profiling]
-  script:
+    - pip install pyyaml
+  script: 
     - cd test/pytest
-    - pytest -rA --cov-report xml --cov-report term --cov=hls4ml --junitxml=report.xml --randomly-seed=42 --randomly-dont-reorganize --randomly-dont-reset-seed
+    - python generate_ci_yaml.py
   artifacts:
-    when: always
-    reports:
-      junit: 
-        - test/pytest/report.xml
-      cobertura:
-        - test/pytest/coverage.xml
     paths:
-      - test/pytest/hls4mlprj*.tar.gz
+      - test/pytest/pytests.yml
+
+pytests:
+  stage: trigger
+  trigger:
+    include:
+      - artifact: test/pytest/pytests.yml
+        job: generator
+    strategy: depend
diff --git a/test/pytest/generate_ci_yaml.py b/test/pytest/generate_ci_yaml.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5e50ea6468
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/pytest/generate_ci_yaml.py
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+import yaml
+import glob
+
+base = """
+.pytest:
+  stage: test
+  image: gitlab-registry.cern.ch/fastmachinelearning/hls4ml-testing:0.2.base
+  tags: 
+    - docker
+  before_script:
+    - source ~/.bashrc
+    - if [ $EXAMPLEMODEL == 1 ]; then git submodule init; git submodule update; fi
+    - conda activate hls4ml-testing
+    - pip install .[profiling]
+  script:
+    - cd test/pytest
+    - pytest $PYTESTFILE -rA --cov-report xml --cov-report term --cov=hls4ml --junitxml=report.xml --randomly-seed=42 --randomly-dont-reorganize --randomly-dont-reset-seed
+  artifacts:
+    when: always
+    reports:
+      junit: 
+        - test/pytest/report.xml
+      cobertura:
+        - test/pytest/coverage.xml
+    paths:
+      - test/pytest/hls4mlprj*.tar.gz
+"""
+
+template = """
+pytest.{}:
+  extends: .pytest
+  variables:
+    PYTESTFILE: {}
+    EXAMPLEMODEL: {}
+"""
+
+def uses_example_model(test_filename):
+    with open(test_filename, 'r') as f:
+        content = f.read()
+        return 'example-models/' in content
+
+yml = yaml.safe_load(base)
+tests = glob.glob('test_*.py')
+for test in tests:
+    name = test.replace('test_','').replace('.py','')
+    yml.update(yaml.safe_load(template.format(name, 'test_{}.py'.format(name), int(uses_example_model(test)))))
+
+yamlfile = open('pytests.yml', 'w')
+yaml.safe_dump(yml, yamlfile)