The top 50 cities worldwide for AI talent, as measured by the TIDE (Talent pool; Investments; Diversity of talent; Evolution of the country’s digital foundations) framework developed at Digital Planet, include:
Top 50 Cities for AI Talent
- San Francisco, USA
- San Jose, USA
- New York, USA
- Seattle, USA
- Boston, USA
- Los Angeles, USA
- Washington, D.C., USA
- London, UK
- Beijing, China
- Toronto, Canada
- Berlin, Germany
- Chicago, USA
- Paris, France
- Austin, USA
- San Diego, USA
- Sydney, Australia
- Tel Aviv, Israel
- Shanghai, China
- Dallas, USA
- Melbourne, Australia
- Houston, USA
- Singapore
- Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Taipei, Taiwan
- Bangalore, India
- Dublin, Ireland
- Rome, Italy
- Madrid, Spain
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Stockholm, Sweden
- Atlanta, USA
- Montreal, Canada
- Barcelona, Spain
- Vancouver, Canada
- Philadelphia, USA
- Milan, Italy
- Munich, Germany
- Brisbane, Australia
- Santiago, Chile
- Mexico City, Mexico
- Warsaw, Poland
- Seoul, South Korea
- Bogotá, Colombia
- Jakarta, Indonesia
- Istanbul, Turkey
- Lagos, Nigeria
- Prague, Czech Republic
- Nairobi, Kenya
- Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Athens, Greece
AI Landscape Dynamics
The AI landscape is dynamic, especially in the developing world, and these changes can significantly transform the list of hotspots over time. For example, Brazil and India have cities on this list and are hiring three times as many AI workers as they were in 2017, a rate of growth that matches or exceeds that in the U.S. The Chinese Academy of Sciences is the top publisher of AI research, with Tsinghua University and Peking University close behind. These countries should be considered by companies for expanding their hiring programs to enhance the diversity of their AI developer pool.
Remote Working and AI
Remote working can help spread AI activity more widely. Cities in the developing world, such as Hyderabad, Bangalore, Jakarta, Lagos, Nairobi, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, and São Paulo, score favorably on cost of living, which could be a powerful draw for diverse talent, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
European Cities and AI
Cities in Europe such as Tallinn, Madrid, Barcelona, and Berlin are in the sweet spot of relatively lower cost of living and a high state of digitalization. To realize their full potential, these cities need to improve in their acceptance of migrants.
Gender Gap in AI
Companies aiming to narrow the gender gap should consider cities with higher proportions of female AI talent. Tel Aviv comes out on top globally on gender diversity, with slightly more than 25% women in its AI talent pool. Other cities with at least 20% women in its AI talent pool include North American cities, Edinburgh, and Buenos Aires. Boston performs the best in the U.S., with the San Francisco Bay Area at number two.
Role of Immigration Policies in AI
Companies can encourage national governments to consider immigration policy reforms that help with building more diverse AI talent pools, especially in the university systems. The EU presents a critical case in point. The EU lags the U.S., UK, and China in the number of STEM undergraduates relative to the population, and many of itsHere’s a summary of the information I found in the Harvard Business Review article titled “50 Global Hubs for Top AI Talent”:
The article highlights 50 cities with the largest AI talent pools worldwide. These cities were evaluated using a framework developed at Digital Planet named TIDE, standing for Talent pool, Investments, Diversity of talent, Evolution of the country’s digital foundations. This framework scores the different locations on the concentration, quality, and diversity of the AI talent pool. The data used for this analysis derives from the SeekOut database, social media activities of AI professionals, and venture capital data by city. The diversity measure incorporates the proportion of female AI workers, racial diversity, and migrant acceptance, along with the cost of living in a city.
AI Highlights
- Brazil and India have cities on the list of 50 and are hiring three times as many AI workers as they were in 2017. The Chinese Academy of Sciences is the top publisher of AI research, with Tsinghua University and Peking University close behind
- Cities in the developing world, such as Hyderabad, Bangalore, Jakarta, Lagos, Nairobi, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, and Saõ Paolo, score favorably on cost of living, which could be a powerful draw for diverse talent.
- European cities such as Tallinn, Madrid, Barcelona, and Berlin are in the sweet spot of relatively lower cost of living and a high state of digitalization.
- Tel Aviv stands out for gender diversity in its AI talent pool, with slightly more than 25% women. Other cities with at least 20% women in their AI talent pool include North American cities, Edinburgh, and Buenos Aires.
- U.S. cities like Atlanta, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles, although ranked lower overall, have higher proportions of Black and Hispanic AI talent.
- The authors also mentioned that companies can collaborate with local city governments to nurture vibrant hubs attractive to a tech workforce, and remote working can help spread AI activity more widely. They emphasized the need for companies to think expansively about where to recruit AI talent due to the current shortage of skilled AI workers.
