Overview

Launched in July 2026, the AI Readiness Lab (AIRLab) is a six-month initiative developed by Opportunity@Work and the Brookings Institution that brings together business-led regional economic development organizations. The goal is to collaborate, understand, and act on how artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping local economies and career pathways. The initiative pays particular attention to workers Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs).

AIRLab aims to move regional leaders past national AI headlines toward localized action. Over the six months, each participating region works alongside Brookings and Opportunity@Work analysts to build four shared assets:

• Contextualized analytics
  • Region-specific read on AI exposure and worker mobility
  • Built on established Brookings and Opportunity@Work models, rather than national averages
• National peer network
  • Cohort of business-led regional organizations learning and responding together
  • Includes benchmarking and shared solutions
• Strategic playbook
  • Framework and menu of strategic responses
  • Co-created with regional leaders
• Communications and activation
  • Toolkit and hands-on support to translate findings into narratives and momentum that move regional decisions

The inaugural cohort includes six pilot regions in Alabama, New York, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota, and California. The program is offered at no cost to participating regions.

Participating organizations, learning alongside a peer network of regional leaders confronting the same questions, assess:

• Pathway health in their region to map which critical career pathways are stable and which are being disrupted by AI.
• Identify their region's position in the AI economy, using findings to develop "adapt and build" strategies.

Opportunity@Work and Brookings plan to expand AIRLab to additional regions and build a national community of practice for regions navigating the AI transition.

Timeline:

• July 2026: Virtual kickoff workshop launching the inaugural cohort
• July–August: Fieldwork and data analysis; regional teams engage stakeholders while Brookings and Opportunity@Work build region-specific analytics
• September: Virtual preliminary workshop to interpret early findings
• October: Peer exchange at the National Talent Collaborative Meeting
• Late October–November: Validation and strategy; findings tested with local stakeholders
• December: Final workshop and synthesis; cohort consolidates regional strategies
• December 2026–Q1 2027: Public release of cross-region insights and tools
• 1st Quarter 2027: Publish cross-region insights

Background

The launch of AIRLab coincides with joint research from Opportunity@Work and Brookings documenting AI's impact on career pathways for workers Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs). The research found that:

• More than 15 million STARs hold jobs highly exposed to AI, representing 43% of all U.S. workers in the most exposed roles.
• Nearly 11 million of those STARs work in stepping-stone jobs that have historically enabled workers to build skills and move into higher-wage careers.
• Nearly half of the pathways between gateway jobs and higher-paying "destination" jobs are highly exposed to AI.

The regional focus of this work is founded in the research on AI disruption.  Approximately 73% of U.S. workers live and work in the same county, and the coordination among employers, educators, and workforce systems that keeps career pathways open happens region by region. Past technological transitions drove decades of geographic divergence between regions that adapted and those that did not.

Partners

• Opportunity@Work
• Brookings Institution

Inaugural Cohort

• Birmingham Business Alliance — Birmingham, Alabama
• CenterState CEO — Syracuse and Central New York
• CEOs of Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP) — Indiana
• Greater Cleveland Partnership — Ohio
• GREATER MSP — Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Minnesota
• San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation — San Diego, California

Resources