00:00First up, I want to take a step back if we could, and I'm curious about how you view the
00:05scope of AI-related labor problems that your venture is looking to address.
00:10What challenges do you think the country is going to be facing, and what challenges do you think the workforce
00:14will have to be facing in coming years, and how acute will it get?
00:19Sure. Well, it's great to be with you, Carol and Tim.
00:21And with every technological advancement, since we're getting ready to celebrate our 250th birthday, and each and every one of
00:29those years, we saw innovation and ingenuity and invention that has really propelled not just America, but the world for
00:38the good.
00:39And we're living in a time right now when the scale and pace of change, which can be very unsettling,
00:46lead to uncertainty, lead to thoughts of, will I be left out?
00:50Will I be sidelined? Will I still have a place in the workforce?
00:54And we are at Raise Us, Gina Raimondo, myself, and a big team of talented folks are out to make
01:03sure that the American worker knows that there are pathways that will scale up alongside them as the AI-infused
01:13economy and quantum and robots over the coming decade really comes to bear.
01:17So it's all about being prepared for the moment right now and for tomorrow and making sure, as you said,
01:26Carol, that we're working with the right stakeholders, the decision makers that can allocate and steer resources, some of which
01:34will be ours, some of which will be states, some of which will be the employers, some of which will
01:39be the post-secondary education and training providers.
01:42It's really getting folks around the table and saying, here are the sectors, here are the skill sets that get
01:49you to a meaningful career if you find yourself in a situation that's what you're looking for.
01:56Well, speaking of stakeholders, let's talk a little bit about the organizations and the companies, too, that are partnering with
02:01your organization.
02:02They include companies such as Amazon, Anthropic, Microsoft, the OpenAI Foundation.
02:10I mean, these are the companies that are bringing us into the AI revolution right now.
02:15Would it be fair for some people to view partnerships with those organizations maybe being skeptical to the work that
02:23the organization is doing?
02:25A little bit like having the foxes in the hen house.
02:28Well, we operate independently, and we're appreciative of everyone's support.
02:34I would just say this.
02:35I would look at it as if, you know, rewind the tape 50 years, 100 years, pick the time in
02:41our history where large-scale investors and inventors, be it electricity or the Internet or rubber, you name it, which
02:52has changed kind of local economies.
02:56We want those folks that are creating that change to be part of the solution.
03:01Every sector out there is, you know, IT, is tech, of course, but so is advanced manufacturing.
03:09So is life sciences.
03:11So is construction.
03:12So is hospitality and tourism.
03:15And that means that they're going to remain competitive as they continue to add these technological advancements into their business
03:25model.
03:25We just want to make sure that the American worker, that we have a people strategy.
03:30And to do that, we're going to need resources.
03:32So I would look at these supporters as people who want to be part of the solution to the inevitable
03:38technological gains that's going to lead to, in my opinion, mass new opportunities for people if we have the right
03:50skill sets for those opportunities.
03:52Governor Holcomb, just playing devil's advocate a little bit, though, like, where are the labor unions as part of, like,
03:57kind of your board or, you know what I mean, those groups representing workers.
04:02And I think the point is these guys are companies that have a lot at stake in the AI build
04:07and spend.
04:08And listen, to be fair, the AI horse has left the barn.
04:11And if we don't keep up, the rest of the world will.
04:14So I understand their participation.
04:17But to kind of balance it out a little bit, too, of more organizations that are going to be maybe
04:22impacted truly by AI already are.
04:26Well, I would say one of the unique things about Raise Us is our balanced approach, where folks who have
04:35partnered with us across the, if you will, political spectrum,
04:40understand and respect that we are nonpartisan, we are nonprofit, we are for public good.
04:48And they want to be a part of that.
04:50There's lots of things that, you know, we could disagree about, but we're focused on what we agree about.
04:54And that's building pathways, whether it's in the trades, whether it's, I call it the three Cs, the jobs that
05:02are going to be created out of AI, this infusion of AI and quantum and robots, jobs that revolve around
05:09control and creation and caring.
05:12Lots of, you know, unfilled jobs right now.
05:15And so, be it aviation mechanics or pilots or nurses or teachers.
05:20So we have to make sure that there are pathways for each of these different pipelines.
05:26And having folks come from all over to help us in this effort really does speak to maybe we have
05:35this moment to have collective action really come to bear for a positive result.
05:39I'm glad you brought up some of the historical examples of real technological revolution and technological change.
05:45I'm curious, based on the experience that you had as governor of Indiana, because Indiana is a state that went
05:50through this, something more recent, and that would be NAFTA.
05:53And the idea that, you know, we would see widespread job retraining efforts when all this labor to make stuff
06:02went overseas, specifically to China.
06:04You know, you know better than anyone, that didn't materialize.
06:07What did we learn as a country from the failure to retrain workers for that, that we could then use
06:15moving forward?
06:17Hey, man, you are preaching to the baritone section of the choir, Tim.
06:20Tim, we learned that we have to build talent pipelines that are directed, that are focused to specific sectors that
06:32are in demand.
06:32There are a lot of different economic models out there, but supply and demand is time-tested and will forever
06:39be true.
06:39And so we have to simply supply the workforce to meet the business demand.
06:46And with this new technology, it's creating more opportunity, more demand from people.
06:53And what we learned in the past is if we don't have the right folks at the table collectively and
06:59have the right support involved in the whole program, the process of retraining, then it'll all be for naught.
07:08And AI, as Carol, you mentioned, of course, our national security is at stake, our very way of life.
07:14I'm also very focused, as is Gina, as is Raise Us, on someone's personal economic security.
07:21That has so much to do with your place in society, your purpose, the dignity of work.
07:28I don't think that being on the sidelines is a long-term healthy strategy.
07:34And so we're trying to get people who have exited the workforce, who are incumbent workers on the job that
07:41need to be reskilled or upskilled, or those entry-level folks who are looking at this new economy saying, am
07:47I skilled and ready for the careers of today and tomorrow?
07:52And what we learned during NAFTA, if we want to, onshore, if we want to bring those, not just factories,
07:59but business, those supply chains back to America, it will be on the backs and the brains of the American
08:06workforce.
08:07And that's what we're getting at.
08:09I mean, how serious is this, do you think, Governor Holcomb, if we don't get this right?
08:14How serious is this for the U.S. workforce?
08:16And how fast will they feel it?
08:19I mean, some would say they're feeling it already.
08:22Well, some are.
08:24Just ask the people who are.
08:25Right.
08:26And so that makes it an urgent call to action.
08:31And so you're going to feel it now.
08:34You're going to feel it in one year, three years.
08:36Think about the combination when it's really synchronized and dialed in of AI, quantum, and robots.
08:44Now, that calls for more humans.
08:46I believe that calls for a whole lot more human talent and labor.
08:50But for every person that feels that that has a ripple effect, not just in their world or their family's
08:56world, but their community and their state and ultimately our nation.
09:00And as you said, failure is not an option when it comes to what's at stake here.
09:05Hey, listen, just got about 30, 40 seconds.
09:07You're a Republican.
09:08Gina Raimondo is a Democrat.
09:10Good lesson on coming together and working together.
09:12How do you think about that against our political divided political backdrop?
09:17And just quickly, we're not changing who we are.
09:20We've been pals for a number of years, and we've both been very pragmatic and practical about how do we
09:27solve problems.
09:29And it's been a joy to be able to work with her on a day to day basis.
09:33Now, we used to work kind of afar from one another.
09:35But it's proof it can be done if you're focused on solving a problem.
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