Christopher Parisi
Trailblaze Inc. founder and president; Rhode Island Small Business Coalition, co-founder and chair; Rhode Island Artificial Intelligence Task Force, vice chair
We’re not going to outspend California or outscale Silicon Valley, and honestly, we shouldn’t want to. Rhode Island’s opportunity in the age of artificial intelligence isn’t to compete, but to lead by example with the same bold thinking, collaboration and hope that built this state.
As vice chair of the Rhode Island AI Task Force, I’ve spent the past year working alongside educators, business leaders and policymakers to design a roadmap for how a small state can lead responsibly. Our focus is on real, actionable steps: upskilling our workforce, helping small businesses adopt new tools, guiding government to use technology responsibly and preparing students for the jobs of the future.
Our size gives us an advantage: we can move fast, collaborate deeply and ensure progress reaches everyone. And if we do this right, Rhode Island can show the nation what it looks like when a community embraces change, not fears it. But this only works if we all take part, from business leaders to citizens alike. We can’t let the AI era simply happen to us; we have the opportunity to shape it together, keeping people – not technology – at the center.
Rhode Islanders have always punched above our weight. We did it once during the Industrial Revolution, and we can do it again through collaboration, curiosity and pride in putting humanity first in the age of AI.