As AI continues to rewrite all the rules, I’ve been asked more than once if traditional tech centers like San Francisco and Seattle will retain their dominance as recruitment targets. On the one hand, the answer is simple: the future of AI is being literally developed by Microsoft, Google, Meta, and the hundreds of start-ups in their wake. The vast majority of the planet’s current AI leadership talent likely shop at the same three Whole Foods.
On the other hand, AI is already following the internet to become far too revolutionary and all-encompassing to stay tethered to a single geography for long. So while Silicon Valley and Seattle will remain the center of attention for AI over the long term, New York is well-positioned to increase its role as a global AI hub in the days ahead.
When viewed through the lens of executive AI recruitment, it’s the breadth of industry that makes NYC so unique. Home to more Fortune 500 companies than anywhere else in the world, NYC is the global center for finance, pharma, media, publishing, advertising, and retail. Just as importantly, it is a global hub of private equity firms, which are beginning to act more and more like venture capital as they focus on raising growth funds.
In discussions with leaders across the city’s core industries, they are all hyper-focused on leveraging AI within their businesses to decode market trends, create blockbuster drugs, generate content, drive personalized shopping experiences, and more.
While NYC has more than its fair share of researchers and scientists developing AI technology, the region’s true value comes from the practitioners and implementers who are defining how AI will be leveraged within their businesses. By using AI to solve specific business problems, these leaders are taking AI out of the lab and integrating it into the trading floor, factory line, design studio, and conference room.
In a city that values action over hype, NYC is where the promise of AI is becoming reality. The proof is in the org chart: Tier 1 businesses, all recognizable industry leaders, have AI leadership in the NYC region, including Meta, Capital One, Apple, ADP, Two Sigma, SiriusXM, Truist, Rivian, Verizon, J&J, Sotheby’s, and Pfizer. Across every sector and size, you’ll find brilliant technologists and professionals working side-by-side to create, test, optimize, and integrate AI into the fabric of their products, services, and operations.
From next-gen companies with AI at their core to established players building out their AI ecosystem, NYC’s AI scene encapsulates the gamut of ideation, innovation, creation, and implementation.
Finding talent capable of leading the way as their organizations adapt to an AI world is a significant challenge faced by companies today. The bottom line: You need to keep all your options on the table, and the NYC market should be one of them. Its eclectic mix of global talent allows organizations to find leaders with a track record of industry-specific experience leveraging AI to solve problems and generate revenue. Depending on the need, you can find executives that are not only technical, but capable of viewing AI through the lens of ROI, making NYC-based talent perhaps the ones best positioned to usher in the AI applications and use cases that will ultimately define the next century and business success.
The seed has been planted and is taking root; the Big Apple is firmly establishing its place as one of the leading AI hubs in the world.