01
Contextualized analytics
A region-specific read on AI exposure and worker mobility, built on established Brookings Metro and Opportunity@Work models — not national averages.
AI Readiness Lab · Opportunity@Work × Brookings Metro
Helping regions turn the AI transition into expanded opportunity.
The AI Readiness Lab (AIRLab) is a six-month, no-cost initiative that moves regional leaders past national headlines toward localized action. As AI reshapes the work, learning, and earning pathways regions depend on, those disruptions could trigger a regional economic crisis — or be steered toward expanded opportunity. The Lab helps leaders shape that outcome now.
Inaugural cohort forming
14 regions applied nationwide
Inaugural cohort starting in July 2026
A partnership of
Opportunity@Work × Brookings Metro
Now inviting national funders & philanthropic partners
What is AIRLab
Built for the AI era.
AI is reshaping the economy fast — but its effects will land unevenly across geographies. AIRLab focuses on the regional middle: the business-led organizations working to understand how AI is changing their own regional industries, jobs, and pathways into work.
Whether those changes expand or constrain economic mobility — especially for STARs — depends on how regional leaders and institutions choose to shape their economies now. AIRLab gives them the data, peers, and playbook to choose well.
6 mo
Guided program
$0
Cost to participating regions
6
Pilot regions in the inaugural cohort
AIRLab helps regional leaders answer four critical questions about AI readiness:
1
What is AI changing in our regional economy?
2
Which workers, roles, and pathways are most exposed — and why?
3
Where are the biggest risks, and the most actionable opportunities for mobility?
4
What should regional leaders do differently now to shape better outcomes?
What Regions Receive & Co-Create
From national headlines to local action.
Every region works alongside Brookings Metro and Opportunity@Work analysts to build — and contribute to — four shared assets they carry into regional decision-making.
02
A national peer network
A cohort of business-led regional organizations learning and responding together — honest benchmarking and shared solutions instead of building from scratch.
03
A strategic playbook
A framework and menu of strategic responses, identified by and co-created with regional leaders — the bridge between insight and the actions employers and institutions can actually take.
04
Communications & activation
A toolkit and hands-on support to translate findings into narratives and momentum — so the work moves regional decisions, not a report on a shelf.
National Demand
Demand from coast to coast.
Regions across the country applied to join the first AIRLab — a signal that leaders nationwide see AI readiness as urgent, local, and shared.
The inaugural cohort is being finalized.
In partnership with Brookings Metro, we've selected regions across the country to join the first AIRLab. Out of respect for a coordinated rollout, the participating regions will be named in a forthcoming announcement from Opportunity@Work.
SELECTED REGIONS TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON
LEARN MORE
Join the Regional Leadership Exchange.
Not in the AIRLab? The Regional Leadership Exchange is your way in — a national network of leaders building skills-first, AI-ready economies, with early access to AIRLab insights, tools, and convenings.
Sign Up — It's Free
Program Roadmap
A six-month arc to shared insight.
Each AIRLab moves from kickoff to a public release of cross-region insights and tools. Timeline subject to refinement with participating regions.
JULY 2026
AIRLab Kickoff Now
Virtual workshop launching the inaugural cohort and aligning on shared questions.
July–August
Fieldwork & data analysis
Regional teams engage key stakeholders while Brookings and Opportunity@Work build region-specific analytics.
September
Preliminary sensemaking
Virtual workshop to interpret early findings together and surface regional patterns.
October
Peer exchange
Cohort convenes to share and refine insights at the National Talent Collaborative Meeting.
Late Oct–Nov
Validation & strategy
Findings tested with local stakeholders; regions shape their menu of strategic responses.
December
Final workshop & synthesis
Cohort consolidates regional strategies and prepares shared outputs.
Dec – Q1 2027
Public release
Cross-region insights and tools published for the broader field of regional leaders.
An Invitation to Funders
Fund the regions shaping the AI transition.
AIRLab is delivered to participating regions regardless of what we raise — but philanthropy is what lets us reach more of the regional middle, faster, and stand up future labs. It's a model primed for catalytic, test-and-learn grantmaking.
The regional middle is underserved
National AI narratives skip the business-led regions where the future of work will actually be decided. AIRLab meets them with local data and a path to action.
Rapid testing, impact, and learning
A six-month cycle produces real insight, peer learning, and published tools — systems-change grantmaking with visible momentum along the way.
STARs at the center
Nine of fourteen applicants named STARs unprompted — evidence the framing is landing with regional leaders and that workers without four-year degrees stay central to the work.
Built with Brookings Metro
A trusted research partner brings rigor and credibility, helping bring regional leaders to the table and turning applications into action.
Help us reach the next region.
We're actively building support for this cohort and the labs that follow. If your foundation is investing in regional economies, workforce, or the AI transition, let's talk about where your priorities and these regions overlap.
Get Involved
Let's build AI-ready regions — together.
Whether you lead a region ready to act or a foundation exploring where to invest, this is the front door. Tell us who you are and we'll follow up.
Regional leaders
Join the Regional Leadership Exchange for early access to AIRLab insights, tools, and convenings.
Funders
Explore backing the inaugural cohort and the labs that follow — and request the full overview.