How AI is Transforming Tech Careers for Black Professionals

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3:22I want to start with tech. You have Afrotech, right? So Afrotech is a convention, right? For people that's interested in technology, people that's in technology, right? Black people. Mm-hmm. How do you see this landscape changing as far as artificial intelligence and all of these robotics? How is this changing in real time and how is that impacting Black people that's in technology and Black people that's trying to get into technology? Yeah. So Afrotech started 10 years ago. I started my career in Silicon Valley working at Intuit, which is a company that has huge monopoly on like TurboTax and so many other products, QuickBooks.

4:15And what we've seen over time is that these companies are very good at evolving and a lot of companies fail, right? Like companies take a shot and then they completely fail because they didn't evolve quick enough. The evolution and the speed in which these companies is moving is something we have never seen before. And when it comes to labor and teams and hiring, they are not able to keep up with the pace of hiring that they need to for these technical skills, because a lot of these skills take 10, 15 years to really learn. So there's this huge gap. And the reason Afrotech has been so successful and why people continue to need to get into technology is because there is a large gap in the labor market.

4:58I mean, it's one of the reasons we're in this trade wars now, really. And I think for Afrotech, you know, we have about 300 clients. These are corporate tech companies, everyone from, you know, your Intel to Lockheed Martin to Nvidia to boring B2B companies that are billion-dollar companies you've never heard of, like F5 run by a black van,$15 billion plus revenue. Like, it's amazing the impact these companies can have. What's happening is that with AI, they're all trying to figure out what is the disruption in the industry that's going to happen. And I think that a lot of times people are getting AI wrong.

5:41Like people are like, AI is going to take my job. It's like, AI is going to take your industry. Like, so there's not like, it's not like, oh, it's me against the person using AI. No, the whole industry is gone. What do you do when you're playing that game? Yeah, I think you said an interesting seat in this as an event such as AfroTech gets to see a lot of the entrepreneurs inside the tech space in terms of innovation. We try to stress to people like we have to take part in this. We have to be part in the innovation. We have to be a part of the engineering. As you start to see businesses that are coming to the event each year, do people really, and I say people, our community specifically, do they understand the severity of what's ahead of us over the next two to five years if we don't get this right?

6:32Because I know we will get it right, but if, what if we don't? I think they're trying. You know, I think AfroTech reaches people who have a higher proclivity of being able to say, like, I know that there's something out there that I need to know, you know, and that's why we do events all over the country. We do happy hours all over this country. We got a happy hour tomorrow in Houston, New Orleans. You know, we're trying to bring it to the people, not just have this huge mega thing that happens in Houston, which is in October this year. What I'm seeing is that people know that there's a gap between where they are and where they need to be, but they're not quite sure if they're willing to take the risk to fill that gap.

7:09You know, I think it's the same that happens in other industries where people are like 40, 50 years old, and they know that these kids grew up with technology, and you kind of have to decide, am I going to try to play their game or am I going to like lean on my leadership skills or my soft skills? That can only take you so far. And that gap is really, really small with the world of AI. An illegal alien from Guatemala charged with raping a child in Massachusetts. An MS-13 gang member from El Salvador accused of murdering a Texas man. A Venezuelan charged with filming and selling child pornography in Michigan.

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8:29Sponsored by the United States Department of Homeland Security. Hey, it's Joel. And Matt from HowToMoney. if your New Year's resolution is to finally get your finances in shape. We've got your back. Prices, they're still high, and the economy is all over the place. But 2026 is the year for you to get intentional and make real progress. That's right. Each week, we break down what's happening with your money, the most important issues to focus on, and the small moves that make a big difference. Kick off the year with confidence. Listen to How to Money on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

9:02What if mind control is real? If you could control the behavior of anybody around you, what kind of life would you have? Can you hypnotically persuade someone to buy a car? When you look at your car, you're going to become overwhelmed with such good feelings. Can you hypnotize someone into sleeping with you? I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused. Can you get someone to join your cult? NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. Mind Games, a new podcast exploring NLP, a.k.a. Neurolinguistic Programming. Is it a self-help miracle, a shady hypnosis scam, or both? Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

9:42This is Dr. Jesse Mills, host of the Mailroom Podcast. Each January, men promise to get stronger, work harder, and fix what's broken. But what if the real work isn't physical at all? I sat down with psychologist Dr. Steve Poulter to unpack shame, anxiety, and the emotional pain men were never taught how to name. Part of the way through the valley of despair is realizing this has happened, and you have to make a choice whether you're going to stay in it or move forward. Our two-part conversation is available now. Listen to The Mailroom on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows.

10:14This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.