Professionals considering moving to MA to work in AI
A person in an organization making or influencing decisions
CEO of AI startup
Hiring companies (corporations, schools, NGOs)
AI champion at an MA hiring organization (corporations, schools, NGOs)
Major verticals
Bio/pharma
Financial
software/robotics
AI champion at investing firm
VC-based in Boston
Angel investors in Boston
Studios/crowdfunding
Government, education or NGO investment
Out-of-state companies considering moving the company or its AI center of excellence team to Boston
Some questions
What are the core problems (cost of living? not enough mega startup winners?) and how do these differ subsegment ("new to MA" students, employers, etc.)
What has worked well in the past that we should do more of?
What is working well in other regions (Vector Institute and Mila in Canada, Stanford and State of CA, Engage.VC in Atlanta, )
What are very specific things that be done in 30-60 days and help (list of AI events, 90 second video of about existing AI community to show to students, AI job fair, etc.)
Fidelity decides to staff 6 AI jobs not in Boston because they can’t find talent
A very promising AI startup out of a university moves to CA and employs 50 AI engineers one year later
A very promising new professor candidate turns down an offer from an MA-based university because she doesn’t think Boston is doing cutting-edge AI research
A traditional manufacturing company wants to hire AI talent but contracts with Accenture instead because they can't find enough AI talent in the greater Boston area
Context
East Coast Hubs (Boston, New York, Washington-Baltimore) grow AI employee base at 30-57%, exceeding West Coast’s/Silicon Valley 18% growth.
East Coast Hubs host 53% of top AI universities, fostering a strong talent pipeline (compared to West Coast at 27%).
