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Hey friends,

Welcome to the 12th edition of the Driver’s Seat 🚙

I have an exciting lineup of topics to share with you today! 👇

🤖 AI Job Growth in the Midwest

👨🏾‍💻 Our TechChicago Week AI Hackathon

📊 Chart of the Week

🗺 Tech Events Around the City

🔙 Back-To-Office in Chicago

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Let’s dive in! 🚙 🚙 🚙

There's a common perception that demand for AI skills is primarily concentrated on the coasts, particularly in states like CA and New York.

However, data suggests that the Midwest also holds substantial opportunities for professionals in the AI field.

I spent some time sifting through data and saw that Illinois alone has over 31,000 AI-related job postings, accounting for about 4% of the total AI jobs in the US.

This sizable figure places us at the forefront in the Midwest region, followed closely by Michigan and Ohio.

When you take a broader view and combine all the Midwest states, you can see that the Midwest collectively accounts for roughly 17.33% of all AI job postings in the country.

This equates to a total of 137,874 AI job postings across the Midwest.

So yes, there's a notable demand for AI skills in the Midwest.

While coastal states may often grab the headlines when it comes to AI / tech, the Midwest is also a significant player in this space.

Our region presents a wide array of opportunities for those with AI expertise.

I’m excited to share that we’re hosting an AI Hackathon on July 8th at the Drive Chicago HQ.

This will be the perfect lead up to the highly anticipated TechChicago Week!

You have a choice to either roll up your sleeves and participate in the hackathon or join us as a spectator throughout the day.

If you plan on spectating, make sure to mark “N/A because I’m spectating” on the registration form so we can differentiate between participants and spectators.

​The AI Hackathon Schedule:

If you’re interested in participating and/or getting involved sign up here.

Chicago has the third largest GDP out of all US cities.

The US, recognized as the world's largest economy in terms of nominal GDP, draws a significant portion of its economic strength from cities like Chicago.

Metropolitan regions are the driving force behind the US economy, contributing to approximately 90% of the country's total economic output.

GDP serves as a reliable measure of the value of goods / services generated within a specific area or city.

It's a vital tool for gauging the size and growth of economies across the nation.

The GDP of Chicago is around $765B and it’s great to see how we compare to other ecosystems of the similar size.

Ethereum and NFTs Hangout

LEEP Demo Day

Chicago Venture Ecosystem Investor Salon

The Next Evolution of Retail & E-commerce

Techstars Chicago Demoday

Gen Z VCS Future-of-Chicago Summit

Reply directly to this email if you have a tech event you want featured in the Driver’s Seat!

Crains recently reported that Chicago's back-to-office numbers exceeded the average of the top 10 US cities by 3%.

This data was pulled from real estate tech firm Kastle Systems, which looks at building security card swipes to compare current figures with those from early 2020.

Additionally, Chicago just reached a new record high in terms of office occupancy since the beginning of the pandemic.

I love seeing this growth because I believe that IRL (in-real-life) is necessary for innovation, especially in the earliest days of building a startup.

Fully remote startups often face a sense of disconnection.

It’s difficult to establish a strong early company culture, align employees around a new strategy, and effectively share information that has already been communicated multiple times.

However, these challenges are largely mitigated when employees work in the same location.

While remote work has its advantages, it ultimately doesn’t scale in startup land.

I think Chicago has the potential to set itself apart as a thriving IRL ecosystem to drive even greater innovation.

Thanks for making it this far! 😎

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