The Race for Talent and Artificial Intelligence
Reporting on a mission to decode human intelligence in the mountains of Davos….
It has been a busy few weeks. I published a report on how cities attract and integrate immigrant entrepreneurs illustrating findings across 8 countries and 9 cities which you have read about in each edition of the Post. The race for attracting talented entrepreneurs is ever increasing. As I have long advocated, it is cities with common sense open policies and integration models that will win. You can download the final report here: How do cities attract and integrated high-skilled immigrant entrepreneurs? and read more below.
One of the most surprising results of this journey was the number of people relocating to support their partners/spouses and the impact it had on their working lives. Either due to visa restrictions or their experience/education not being valued in the new country, they were often underemployed or out of the workforce — a significant waste of talent. Do write to me if this is something that has impacted you. I cover this and several other themes including the rise of graduate entrepreneurship along with 5 key policy recommendations. I may be bias, but it is worth a read.
Earlier last month, I also took a short plane ride to Davos to witness another race — this time for Artificial Intelligence. I attended the inaugural Mindfire mission whose goal is to unlock the principles of intelligence to create human level AI. Led by Pascal Kaufmann, Mindfire Mission-1 gathered over 30 STEM talents from across the world with input from leading scientists including Ben Goertzel and Joanna Bryson in an inspiring and thought provoking few days.
I spoke to several quantum physicists and neuroscientists about the future implications of AI. Conversations spanned from the issue of AI exhibiting gender and racial biases to the nature of consciousness. So essentially, light dinner conversation and Davos isn’t the worst place to combine food and consciousness. Watch the video here.
The Swiss are not alone in the AI race. Across cities I visited over the last year, Governments and quangos are doubling down on their investments in Artificial Intelligence innovation. In Toronto, I reported on the AI Vector Institute which had $180m investment from Geff Hinton and the UK recently announced a £1bn AI Sector deal. My question has always been what are nations actually investing in?
It is hard to miss the AI hype but easy to misunderstand the premise of true Artificial Intelligence and what represents real progress in the field . The media landscape on AI is contradictory and confusing. There are the optimists and realists, the utopian and dystopian all weighing in on where we are in the race to entirely replicate ourselves.
Fans of Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror may be familiar with the dystopian view that masterfully grapples with the ethical and legal issues surrounding cutting edge AI. The episode U.S.S. Callister deals with a women whose consciousness is stolen and copied to the cloud. For those of you who want a more balanced scientific view, I found this article by Rodney Brooks to be a more substantive and realistic assessment on the state of AI today.
Across countries, the races for both talent and AI are accelerating. They are interdependent races. We need talent to create AI and if AI is truly created and infinitely available, do we need human talent at all or can a symbiotic relationship exist? I’ll leave you to muse on that question….until next time.
Sincerely yours,
Kajal
t: @kajalnyclon | w: transatlanticpost.com
HOW CITIES ATTRACT AND INTEGRATE IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS
This study documents over 30 models to attract and integrate diverse entrepreneurial talent. I interviewed over 100 organisations and individuals with some surprising results. This is not intended to be an academic report — rather it is focused on grassroots insights from those working to make entrepreneurial ecosystems more open, diverse and inclusive. The journey took me from global accelerators near the Berlin Wall to Crypto Valley with Blockchain enthusiasts in Switzerland, from the Ministry of Economic Affairs in Helsinki to a chatbot meetup in the heart of Vienna. And at the end to Kampala, Uganda. There were 5 emerging themes from the research (1) Humans not numbers (2) Integration, integration, integration (3) Rise of the Graduate Entrepreneurs (4) Waiting for Superwoman (5) Cultural Kryptonite and Superpowers
I conclude the journey with 5 key policy recommendations. Take a read below.
IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS POST-BREXIT: A REVIEW
A few weeks ago, we convened a panel of experts to discuss immigrant entrepreneurship post Brexit. Our goal was to inform and challenge existing immigration rhetoric with real solutions and create a dialogue between both British native and other nationalities living in the UK. In a candid and passionate conversation, we covered wide ranging topics on the importance of immigration for building diverse teams, building a business in the UK and solutions on addressing public concerns.
Feedback from the audience “Thought-provoking, engaging, new insights”. A big thank you to our panelists of entrepreneurs and experts: Andrew Tingley a Partner at leading immigration law firm Kingsley Napley, Satish Chatwani a highly successful first generation immigrant entrepreneur to the UK from Uganda, Simon Morley CEO of Cucumber Tony who has built his businesses between London, Berlin and the US and Iliana Zuluaga Vega an LSE graduate entrepreneur.
UNIVERSITY ENTREPRENEURSHIP
LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS GENERATE
In previous editions, I have talked alot about the increasing role of university entrepreneurship in creating the pipeline of our most valuable businesses. This month I discovered how the London School of Economics is pioneering social innovation through its LSE Generate programme. Social science research is notoriously difficult to commercialise. The university is helping to change that through a new spin-out generator and other initiatives to bolster London’s social innovation and entrepreneurship. LSE ENTREPRENEURSHIP»
ABOUT THE TRANSATLANTIC POST
A monthly editorial at the confluence of Transatlantic entrepreneurship, start-up policy and city ecosystems. With occasional British satire. Written and edited by Kajal Sanghrajka, Churchill Fellow and Founder of Growth Hub Global. For previous editions see the archive.
