For Bernardo Flores, president of Quality Wet Paint, LLC, the problem was practical: his painting company received payments monthly but paid its employees weekly. He needed a clearer view of cash, project costs, and profit margins to make decisions about the business.
Flores already used QuickBooks, but answering those questions still meant piecing together information from his bank, a contractor’s payment portal, and spreadsheets. Pursuit Builder Victor Castillo worked with Flores and his team to build a financial dashboard around those needs, bringing cash balances, payroll requirements, project spending, and outstanding payments into one view.
The dashboard also includes an AI assistant that lets Flores ask questions in plain language. The software calculates the financial figures, and the AI explains those results, an approach designed to reduce errors from asking AI to do the arithmetic itself. The value was a tool tailored to the decisions Flores needed to make each week, alongside his existing accounting systems.
At the Pursuit x Hispanic Federation Small Medium Business (SMB) AI Demo Day on September 23, 2026, at Google’s New York City office, they demonstrated it answers three pressing questions that matter to a growing business: Can we make payroll? What is this project earning? Who owes us money?
“This experience has been nothing short of transformative for our company,” Flores wrote in an email following the event.
Their project was one of ten presented by small business owners and Pursuit Builders. With support from Google, Amazon, Jobs for the Future (JFF), and the New York City Council, the initiative paired businesses identified through the Hispanic Federation with everyday New Yorkers building careers in technology through Pursuit’s AI training. These Builders brought experience from fields including the trades, education, healthcare, and the arts. Each pairing was chosen intentionally, connecting the business’s needs with the Builder’s skills and experience.
Over several weeks, Builders and owners spent time together, visited workplaces, and learned from each other. Support for owners working in Spanish and tools designed for use in both English and Spanish helped make the work accessible. Those relationships gave Builders a deeper understanding of how each business operated and gave owners the confidence to try something new. Together, they turned everyday business problems into working software, while Builders gained client experience that could open doors to careers in technology.
The program builds on Pursuit’s earlier small business AI pilot with Amazon and Google. This cohort showed what becomes possible when trusted organizations serving local communities, such as The Hispanic Federation, partner with organizations like Pursuit that help people build careers in technology. The Hispanic Federation brought relationships with business owners and an understanding of their communities. Pursuit brought AI training and local New Yorkers, many of whom entered the program without previous experience in technology, ready to apply their new skills alongside experience from other fields.
For city and state leaders, the demonstrations offer a concrete example of how workforce development and small business support can reinforce each other. Business owners gained technical help through a community partner they trusted. Builders gained experience listening to clients, adapting to feedback, and delivering products that addressed real business needs. The work connected neighborhood businesses with people from their own city building a path into the tech sector.
Council Member Carmen De La Rosa, Chair of the City Council’s Technology Committee, placed that work in the context of New York’s neighborhood economy.
“For those businesses, AI should not be another dividing line between the companies that can afford to innovate and everyone else,” she said.
Her remarks set a standard for New York’s ambitions in AI: progress should be measured by small business participation, career opportunities for New Yorkers, and whether communities across the five boroughs have a voice in shaping that future.
Council Member Carmen De La Rosa
The demos made those questions tangible.
At NY Business Licensing, Arelia Taveras needed to keep track of applications, staff responsibilities, documents, and payments across multiple agencies. Luba Kaper built a dashboard that gave the team a shared view of the work. Taveras described being able to check a client’s progress from her phone and delegate tasks more clearly.
At RBM Maintenance, Fernando Barrios faced urgent requests that required matching jobs with available technicians. Samuel McFarlane demonstrated a sequential dispatching algorithm that moves a request through acceptance, travel, arrival, and completion, including offering the job to another worker when needed.
For JCA & Associates, Gary Gonzalez worked with Jacqueline Aleman on a bilingual tool that drafts information in English and Spanish, helping the firm explain construction requirements and reach business owners. Aleman can review and edit the content before exporting it to the communication tools she already uses.
Other projects addressed the same shortage of time and flooded list of tasks that small businesses owners face in different settings. Yaasameen Perez built content generation and scheduling tools for the Women’s Venture Fund. Kevin Natera brought practitioner outreach, room scheduling, and referrals together for Upsoul Center. Beatrice Alexander created a bilingual intake and operations platform for Golden Rose Employment Agency.
Arelia Taveras and Luba Kaper, NY Business Licensing
Joel Philip demonstrated a school data portal for Tiffany Diaz’s MFS enrichment and tutoring work, including assessment tracking and report drafting. Cherice Heron built a platform for Verified Consulting to organize campaigns, press placements, and client reports. Gamaliel Leguista worked with Daysi Fernández to rebuild Daysi Collection’s online storefront and simplify product and order management.
Explore all ten projects and meet the Builders in the Demo Day lookbook.
Across the presentations, it was evident that understanding the business came first. Builders visited offices, learned how teams worked, and adapted their AI tools around the owners’ priorities and existing workflows. Flores explained that familiarity with the Hispanic Federation, through an introductory workshop, and direct conversations with Pursuit helped him trust the process.
Frankie Miranda, President and CEO of Hispanic Federation, emphasized the people behind those businesses.
“Latino entrepreneurs, many of them immigrants, are builders and visionaries,” he said.
Hispanic Federation’s role connected that entrepreneurial experience with technical support. Language, trust, and knowledge of the community were integral to the success of this program.
Frankie Miranda, President & CEO Hispanic Federation
The partnership also offered a route for New Yorkers bringing experience from other fields into technology. Castillo described his 15 years as a cable technician before joining Pursuit. Other Builders spoke about backgrounds in the trades, education, healthcare operations, and the arts. Their presentations showed how that experience could inform the products and relationships they built.
Angela Pinsky, Head of Community Engagement for Amazon New York, connected small business adoption to the city’s ability to develop and retain talent.
“That is why creating capacity for the tech adoption at small and medium businesses is a critical part of strengthening our city’s future,” she said.
Angela Pinsky, Amazon
Reggie Thomas, Google’s Head of Government Affairs for New York, urged the room to consider what could follow the pilot.
“We’re New Yorkers, right? We shape these technologies. We shape our initiatives. We shape what we want the future of New York and small businesses to be,” he said.
Reggie Thomas, Google
The panel that followed addressed how to bring this opportunity to hundreds more businesses. Moderated by Pursuit’s General Manager, Devika Gopal Agge, it brought together Council Member Julie Won, Chair of the Workforce Development Committee; Diana Caba, Hispanic Federation’s Vice President for Community and Economic Development; Flores; and Castillo.
“We have to save our business owners’ time so that they can do what they’re actually passionate about,” Councilmember Won said.
When asked what government and community organizations could do, she called for greater funding for Pursuit and Hispanic Federation at the city, state, and federal levels.
“Put your money where your mouth is because it all comes down to resources,” she said.
Councilmember Won also called for investment beyond pilots, including support to track whether the tools help businesses grow stronger over time. The demonstrations showed working products and owners’ early assessments. Continued support would allow partners to measure sustained use, time saved, business growth, and career outcomes for Builders.
From left: Council Member Julie Won; Diana Caba, Hispanic Federation; Bernardo Flores, Quality Wet Paint; Victor Castillo, Pursuit Builder; and Devika Gopal Agge, Pursuit
That local work speaks to a wider discussion about investing in workers as AI changes the economy. On September 24, the day after Demo Day, Senator Mark Kelly introduced the Make AI Work for Americans Act. Supported by JFF, a funder of this initiative, the proposal would establish a federal trust fund to support workers, jobseekers, and communities through training and other opportunities.
Demo Day offers a practical example for that discussion: connect training to real business needs, support the relationships that make adoption possible, and give New Yorkers opportunities to put their skills to work.
Those relationships can continue beyond the initiative. Participating small businesses can engage their Builders for further paid projects or hire them as their needs grow, building on the trust and understanding developed through the work.
The next step is to bring more partners and investment into this effort. City and state agencies, employers, and philanthropic funders can help pair hundreds more small businesses with local New Yorkers trained in AI, support implementation and follow-up, and create more pathways to employment.
Employers can hire Builders who have demonstrated their skills through these projects. Community organizations can connect more business owners to the program. Funders can help make the next round of partnerships happen sooner and reach more neighborhoods, strengthening local businesses while helping New Yorkers build careers in technology.
Connect with Pursuit and Hispanic Federation to fund the next cohort, bring a small business into the program, or hire a Builder. Together, these investments can give entrepreneurs practical tools, help New Yorkers build careers, and strengthen the businesses that sustain the city’s economy.
