Opening Remarks – AI & Workforce Summit
August 7, 2025Welcome & Context

Good morning, and thank you for being here.
I know it’s August — a time when vacations are planned, calendars are full, and right now COVID is again sweeping through our region. So I appreciate you making the time to join us. This was not an easy date to carve out, and yes, we’re missing some of your peers, but we felt this moment couldn’t wait. Even delaying until September would mean competing with an entirely new set of priorities.

A Lens on the Conversation
Let me begin with an idea borrowed from Professor Narayanan at Princeton (author of AI Snake Oil).
Imagine an alternate universe where the Washington Nationals are contending for the World Series or the Wizards get the number-one draft pick. In this universe, we’re only allowed one word — “vehicle” — to describe everything from a car to a spaceship. You might say, “I’m taking a vehicle across the Chesapeake,” or, “I’m taking a vehicle to Mars.” When someone announces a breakthrough in vehicle space travel, people start calling their car dealerships, wondering when they can take their sedan into orbit.

That’s how we sometimes talk about “AI.” We use the same word to mean vastly different things, which distorts our understanding and fuels misinformation. AI is not a single technology, and its capabilities are evolving quickly — especially with quantum computing on the horizon. The way we talk about it shapes how we respond to it.

Why We’re Here
We’ve convened today because AI is no longer a distant, futuristic concept. It’s here, it’s reshaping our economy, our institutions, and our communities — both in visible ways and in ways we can’t yet see. If we don’t act with urgency and intention, the pace of change will outstrip our ability to ensure that its benefits are shared broadly across the workforce.

Today, AI is placing new economic pressures on workers and employers alike. A Pew Research Center survey found that only 17% of Americans believe AI will have a positive impact in the next 20 years. That’s a confidence gap we need to close. AI can improve productivity, create new roles, and solve hard problems — but right now, the public feels unprotected and unprepared. And they may be justified in feeling this way.

The Changing Workforce Landscape
Last month, the Burning Glass Institute released a report titled No Country for Young Grads. It found that more than half of recent college graduates are underemployed — working in jobs unrelated to their degrees — the worst rate in decades. The traditional “on-ramps” to professional careers, like marketing, finance, and operations, are eroding. In their place, generative AI is taking on many of the entry-level tasks once assigned to junior staff: drafting emails, summarizing reports, managing calendars, writing marketing copy, conducting basic research.

This isn’t just a technology shift — it’s a structural reorganization of the workforce. Companies are hiring fewer junior employees while increasing demand for workers with six or more years of experience. That’s a major change in how talent pipelines function.

Yet this is not “the end of work.” It’s the beginning of a new technology cycle — one that offers hope if we approach it thoughtfully. The Special Competitive Studies Project estimates that AI could raise U.S. labor productivity by 1.5% annually, with some models predicting up to 6% GDP growth over a decade. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis reports that workers using generative AI are 33% more productive, saving over two hours a week on routine tasks.

Firms that adopt AI are still hiring. Only 5% report a net decline in employment, and many are seeing modest job gains. We’re witnessing what economists call “task reallocation” — shifting how work gets done, not eliminating the work itself.

Emerging Roles & Skills Gaps
New roles are already emerging: AI operations managers, model risk auditors, data labeling specialists, ethics and compliance strategists. AI is also reshaping the physical economy, driving demand for skills in energy management, HVAC systems, data center operations, and advanced manufacturing.

But we face a serious challenge: skilled trades are in short supply. Retiring electricians, for example, are leaving faster than new entrants are arriving. These jobs can’t be offshored —that’s fabulous— and they’re essential to the AI economy. In our region and along the East Coast, the growth of data centers is fueling demand not just for high-tech roles, but for evolving trades and energy-related expertise.

The Stakes for Our Region
Why does this matter for us? Because balanced economic opportunity and workforce resilience are not just social goals — they’re business imperatives. AI’s workforce impact affects corporate markets, consumer confidence, and regional social stability.

We’re already seeing entry-level employees trained entirely by AI tools, without human supervision. In education, students are relying on AI for assignments, while professors grade those assignments with the same technology — no human in the loop there. That raises urgent questions about how the next generation will develop critical thinking and interpersonal skills — the very skills needed to use AI as a tool rather than a crutch.

At the broadest level, we have to ask: Is AI driving inclusive prosperity, or is it deepening economic exclusion?

A Call to Collective Action
While AI may be a global phenomenon, its consequences — and solutions — are local. No region is better positioned to lead than the Washington metro area, with its corporate leadership, world-class research universities, strong public sector, and engaged, diverse population.
We are not powerless. If we act now, we can:

• Develop stackable credentials, internships, apprenticeships, and work-based learning programs that expose people to AI tools.
• Form public-private partnerships to design, not just react to, the future of work.
• Use data storytelling to make this issue visible to decision-makers and funders.

That’s where Kaptivate comes in — not just as a convener, but as a partner. We help organizations give voice to their vision of the future by making the internal case for AI workforce strategy, crafting regional narratives, launching innovation prize challenges, and building communities that work together between events to test and implement real solutions.

Today’s Program
We’ll begin with a regional analysis of the economic transformation underway, presented by Dr. Terry Clower, Director of the Stephen Fuller Institute for Regional Economic Analysis at George Mason University. Dr. Clower is a leading voice on workforce dynamics, housing, and infrastructure, helping policymakers and business leaders navigate the intersections of technology, labor, and place.

Before we start, I want to recognize our Kaptivate team here today: Kat Kempe, Jen Stein, Amanda Ponzar, Annabelle O’Brian, and Victor Vassallo. Please take the opportunity to meet them over lunch — they’re extraordinary colleagues.

Now, please join me in welcoming Dr. Terry Clower.