Greater Richmond Ranks as a Top City for AI Tech Talent
By Will Melton · July 2, 2026 · 2 min read read
Category: AI
Greater Richmond Ranks as a National AI Tech Talent Leader Business Facilities magazine named Greater Richmond a national Artificial Intelligence Tech Talent Leader in its 2026 Annual Rankings...
Greater Richmond Ranks as a National AI Tech Talent Leader
Business Facilities magazine named Greater Richmond a national Artificial Intelligence Tech Talent Leader in its 2026 Annual Rankings Report, placing the region among the top 10 mid-sized tech labor pools.
The ranking highlights the availability of tech-centric workers in metropolitan areas across the U.S. and Canada. Richmond competed in the category for regions with a tech labor pool of fewer than 50,000 people, where the publication evaluated the size and growth of the local talent pool.
Building an AI Workforce
Jennifer Wakefield, President and CEO of the Greater Richmond Partnership (GRP), said regional employers are pulling tech talent from well beyond Virginia.
“The Richmond Region has employers seeking and attracting tech talent from around the world and they’re seeing significant growth,” Wakefield said. “One of the biggest AI initiatives in the region, AI Ready RVA, is actively building the region’s workforce and is on a mission to make Richmond the most AI-ready region in the world.”
The region supports this growth through specific infrastructure and energy assets that corporate executives require for AI operations. According to the GRP, four major undersea fiber cables—Dunant, MAREA, BRUSA, and SAEx—converge in the area to provide the lowest-latency connectivity on the East Coast.
Infrastructure and Energy Ecosystem
The regional energy mix includes nuclear, gas, and solar power. Chesterfield County recently approved zoning for the world’s first commercial fusion power plant, which remains on track for completion in the early 2030s. These resources have attracted a tech ecosystem that includes Meta, QTS, Tract, and Iron Mountain, which operates a $1 billion campus. Google has also invested $9 billion throughout VA.
The Greater Richmond Partnership serves as the lead economic development organization for the City of Richmond and the counties of Chesterfield, Hanover, and Henrico. The organization generates economic opportunities by providing market data and marketing the region to global companies.
The full 22nd Annual Rankings Report, which includes state, metro, and global data, will appear in the July/Aug. 2026 issue of Business Facilities.
Source: Michael Ivey, Vice President of Marketing + Communications, Greater Richmond Partnership, (804) 898-1093, mivey@grpva.com; Jennifer Wakefield, President + CEO, Greater Richmond Partnership; Greater Richmond Partnership, Inc. (GRP), regional economic development organization for the City of Richmond and counties of Chesterfield, Hanover, and Henrico, www.grpva.com; Business Facilities magazine, publication/resource for site selection and economic development; Chesterfield County, location of approved fusion power plant; Meta, corporation; QTS, corporation; Iron Mountain, corporation; Tract, corporation; Google, corporation.