Today, Governor Kathy Hochul announced the launch of Pursuit’s AI Jobs Institute, a new training hub in Long Island City that Pursuit will build and run, and which will serve as our new headquarters. The Institute will serve up to 40,000 New Yorkers by 2032 and build pathways for careers in AI.
That's a big number for us. For more than a decade, Pursuit has focused on one goal: helping New Yorkers move from low-wage work into high-growth tech careers that pay six figures. We pair intensive training with long-term employer partnerships and support that doesn't stop when someone gets hired. The model works, and it has produced some of the strongest earnings gains in our field.
The Pursuit AI Jobs Institute lets us do that work for far more people, at the speed AI is moving.
Learn more at:
aiji.pursuit.org
Look at the job postings at almost any New York employer today, and you will find skills that barely existed three years ago. AI is creating new kinds of work faster than our training systems were built to handle. Traditional programs can take years to design and launch. By the time it is ready, the job it was built for may look completely different.
That lag hits hardest for the New Yorkers with the least room for error: people without a degree or a network in tech, who cannot afford to take a year off to retrain. They are often the last to learn about new roles and the first to be told they don't qualify. We've seen that pattern before. It's the reason Pursuit exists.
The cities that build training and hiring infrastructure first are going to capture the most gains in the AI economy. We want New York to be one of them, and we want the people who benefit to include the New Yorkers who usually get passed over. The AI Jobs Institute is designed to prepare people for roles as they emerge, not years after the fact.
The Institute's work falls into four areas:
Workforce Training: Upskilling New Yorkers through AI-enabled career pathways and immersive AI-Native programming.
Innovation: Incubating pilots and tools, including partnership models with small businesses and non-profits, to scale impact.
Policy & Research Leadership: Producing real-world data and recommendations for city, state, and federal AI workforce strategies.
Ecosystem Convening: Bring together employers, talent, and industry partners under one roof.
Our focus on convening is essential. A training program without employers at the table can only go so far. Pursuit’s model has always depended on a feedback loop among employers, trainers, and talent, so we can share what we learn in the field and train for the skills that matter. The Institute gives that approach a permanent home.
The launch of Pursuit’s AI Jobs Institute is supported by $10 million of public investment, backed by New York State, the Queens Borough President’s Office, and other partners across New York City government. This includes Empire State Development’s investment of $3.06 million in the Long Island City hub: $1.5 million through its Office of Strategic Workforce Development and $1.56 million through the Regional Economic Development Council initiative. A coalition of philanthropic, industry, and civic partners join Pursuit as partners: Ascendium Education Group, Wells Fargo, Google.org, OpenAI, Anthropic, Mizuho, Siegel Family Endowment, Con Edison, Spectrum, MetLife Foundation, Adobe, the New York Jobs CEO Council, and the Partnership Fund for New York City.
The Institute will also be home to the New York Global Tech and Innovation Center (GTIC), an initiative of the Queens Borough President's Office. GTIC will connect underrepresented entrepreneurs with capital, corporate partners, and global networks, with a goal of launching more than a dozen high-growth startups over the next five years. Queens is one of the most globally diverse places in the country, so it's a natural front door to the global innovation economy.
To guide our work, we've brought together a National Advisory Council of leaders from government, education, technology, finance, and workforce development. Former U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona will serve as Chair. As he put it: "AI will reshape the future of work. The question is whether we build systems that expand opportunity."
The council's founding members are:
Dr. Miguel Cardona, Former U.S. Secretary of Education (Chair)
Byron Auguste, CEO & Co-founder, Opportunity@Work
Kiersten Barnet, Executive Director, New York Jobs CEO Council
Leah Belsky, Head of Education, OpenAI
Rich Buery, Jr., CEO, Robin Hood
Maggie Cacioppo, Regional Giving Lead, Google.org
Marco Carrión, President, Consortium for Worker Education
Ryan Craig, Managing Director, Achieve Partners
Eleanor Dorfman, Head of Industries, Commercial Sales, and Private Equity, Anthropic
Maria Flynn, CEO & President, Jobs for the Future (JFF)
Adam Goldfarb, Executive Director, Opportunity AI
Osi Imeokparia, CEO, Kode with Klossy
James Katz, Deputy Secretary for Economic Development and Workforce, New York State Executive Chamber
MC Lader, Founder and CEO, Native Markets
Chris Lyons, President, a16z Halo, Andreessen Horowitz
Félix Matos Rodríguez, Chancellor, City University of New York
Julie Samuels, CEO, Tech:NYC
Jon Schnur, CEO, America Achieves
Matt Sigelman, President, The Burning Glass Institute
Construction starts this winter, and we expect to move in by mid-2027. Between now and then, we are lining up the programs, partners, and employer commitments that will fill the space on day one.
If you're an employer hiring for AI-enabled roles, tell us what skills you need so we can train for them. If you run a small business or nonprofit and you're trying to figure out where AI fits, we'd like to talk. And if you're a New Yorker who has been told tech isn't for you, we're building this for you.
New York has a real shot at setting the national standard for how AI creates opportunity. We intend to take it.
Learn more at:
aiji.pursuit.org
