I’ve spent my entrepreneurial career pushing against a simple but powerful reality I witnessed: talent is universal, but awareness of opportunity is not. In a country where innovation fuels our future, we cannot continue leaving untapped potential sitting on the sidelines that happens to be our majority population. The next wave of transformation won’t come only from elite institutions or global recruitment pipelines – it will rise from our own neighborhoods, powered by people who simply need access, belief, and a pathway built for them.
My journey – through workforce development, higher-education policy, and entrepreneurship – has shown me the same pattern again and again: people aren’t lacking capability; they’re lacking in opportunity and trainable skills. I’ve met individuals with brilliance, drive, and grit who have been shut out of the digital economy not because they couldn’t succeed, but because no one has yet guided them to open doors. That realization changed the trajectory of my life’s work.
As I built SnapIT Solutions® with the SPRNT® business model, the goal was never just to train people; it was to rewrite who all can be included to participate in the innovation economy. Yes, technology skills matter. Yes, employers need them. Yes, we can do better economies of scale in the technology sector. But the deeper issue is access: Who receives it? Who is overlooked? And what do we lose as a nation when opportunity is passing us by to other countries?
My focus today is less about any single silver bullet solution and more about reshaping mindsets, systems, and expectations. We must challenge the long-held belief that tech talent must come from a narrow set of institutions or expertise. The next generation of innovators is already here – in rural towns, urban neighborhoods, immigrant communities, career changers, and parents returning to the workforce. They’re ready, but readiness means little without awareness of access or opportunity.
So my message to this hidden talent, employers, educators, and policymakers is this: the future of tech talent is local, untapped, and waiting to be unlocked. Progress can no longer be measured solely by advancements in AGI or Advancements in Technology; it must be measured by how many people we include in that future. None of us is fully prepared or ready, but that cannot be an excuse for keeping doors closed.
The world isn’t lacking talent; it’s lacking access. Make access universal, and innovation becomes truly unstoppable. That’s how we ensure AI remains humanity’s tool, not our master.
