Chapter 2

Which markets have the most Tech Talent specializing in Artificial Intelligence?

Scoring Tech Talent 2025

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3 Minute Read

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Artificial intelligence is a transformative technology with high potential to become a major source of economic growth and real estate demand.

In the San Francisco Bay Area and New York, AI-related companies are rapidly growing and absorbing office space. This technology enables computers and machines to simulate human intelligence using algorithms, data and computational power. Tasks such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception and language comprehension will be revolutionized. The deployment of these AI systems across industries could be a catalyst for business and workforce growth, much like mobile internet technology was after the 2007-2008 financial crisis.

AI software and hardware developers currently are the most sought-after tech talent by employers. They are supported by a rapidly growing number of computer information and systems managers that build foundational data systems for AI model development and deployment.

Across the U.S. and Canada, tech talent workers with AI skills grew by more than 50% year-over-year to 517,000 as of mid-2025.2 The San Francisco Bay Area, New York Metro and Seattle are the top U.S. markets for AI-specialty talent, accounting for 35% of the national total (Figure 10). Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal are the top Canadian markets with 62% of the country’s total AI-specialty talent. New York Metro added the most talent over that past year at 20,000, while Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Toronto and Washington, D.C. increased by 75% or more.

Figure 10: U.S. & Canada Artificial Intelligence Tech Talent By Market

Source: LinkedIn Talent Insights, CBRE Consulting, June 2025.
Note: Based on LinkedIn members that self-reported their occupation as tech talent with artificial intelligence and machine learning skills.
2 Based on LinkedIn members that self-reported their occupation as tech talent with artificial intelligence and machine learning skills. The gains in AI-specialty talent do not represent new jobs, only the acquisition of AI skills.
AI software and hardware developers currently are the most sought-after tech talent by employers.

The tech industry employed the largest share of AI-specialty talent in the U.S. and Canada (Figure 11). Seattle (62%), San Francisco (56%) and Vancouver (44%) had the highest tech industry concentration. Professional & business services and financial services were the next highest industries. Washington, D.C. (37%), Atlanta (27%), Dallas-Ft. Worth (27%), Montreal (26%) and Chicago (26%) had the highest professional & business services concentrations. New York Metro (21%), Dallas-Ft. Worth (20%) and Toronto (20%) had the highest financial services concentrations.

Figure 11: U.S. & Canada Artificial Intelligence Tech Talent by Industry

Source: LinkedIn Talent Insights, CBRE Consulting, June 2025.
Note: Based on LinkedIn members who self-reported their occupation as tech talent with artificial intelligence and machine learning skills.

The most significant indicators for any market’s potential growth of AI-specialty talent are the presence of universities with established AI education programs, major technology companies developing AI and available venture capital funding. The San Francisco Bay Area dominates for these indicators, attracting three-quarters of U.S. AI venture capital funding since 2019, most of the country’s largest start-up AI companies and two of the top five university AI programs, according to U.S. News & World Report (Figure 12). Seattle, New York Metro, Boston, Los Angeles, Toronto and Washington, D.C. also scored highly for these growth indicators.

Existing tech talent workforces are rapidly upskilling to include AI development capabilities as companies across all industries deploy this new technology. Thus, AI-skilled tech talent will remain in high demand.

Figure 12: Top 15 U.S. Universities by AI Program & Share of Computer Science Graduates

Source: U.S. News and World Report, May 2025.

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Chapter 3 What defines a Tech Talent market?
Chapter 1 What are the top-ranked Tech Talent markets?