As a longtime advocate for public services, economic development, and technology, I have always believed that North Carolina’s greatest strength is our ability to unite people around big ideas.
This energetic spirit created Research Triangle Park more than 60 years ago. Visionary leaders like the late Governor James B. Hunt championed a long-term vision to build on the foundation established by the state’s early innovators and transform North Carolina from a primarily agricultural economy into a global center of innovation. Their leadership has helped attract world-class companies, universities, entrepreneurs, and talent. Today, we are at a new moment of transformation: the rise of artificial intelligence.
North Carolina has an opportunity to not only participate in the AI revolution, but to lead it.
We already know that AI is transforming our economy every day. Countless conferences, summits, podcasts, and panel discussions remind us of this fact almost every day. But at some point, the conversation must move beyond just talking about AI to helping businesses, entrepreneurs, and workers harness its benefits in practical and meaningful ways.
The real question we should focus on is whether small businesses and entrepreneurs can benefit from this transformation, or whether the benefits only accrue to the largest organizations.
For years, I have written about the importance of supporting small businesses, which remain the backbone of North Carolina’s economy. From downtown retailers and mom-and-pop manufacturing businesses to professional service firms, restaurants, startups, and emerging technology companies, small businesses create jobs, strengthen communities, and drive economic growth.
All the more so because I was inspired by the launch of RDU Labs a few weeks ago.
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to speak with Mark Bavisotto, co-founder of RDU Labs, at the NC Tech Association’s Tech Fest in Durham. We continued our conversation in a recent Radio Nyra interview, and I was impressed by the practical vision behind RDU Labs. Their mission is simple but powerful. It’s about making the benefits of AI available to everyone, not just the biggest companies with the biggest technology budgets.
What impresses me most is the focus on helping small businesses not just talk about AI, but put it to work. Through education, strategic guidance, and practical solutions, RDU Labs helps Main Street businesses understand how AI can improve productivity, serve customers more effectively, and compete in an increasingly digital economy. At a time when many organizations are still figuring out what AI means for them, RDU Labs is helping them turn opportunity into action.
One of North Carolina’s greatest entrepreneurial success stories, Scott Wingo, who many of us affectionately consider the “Startup Master Jedi,” has spent years building companies, mentoring founders, and strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Through his leadership, the Tweener Fund, North Carolina IDEA, and countless mentoring efforts, Wingo has helped shape what I have previously described as North Carolina’s emerging “startup revolt” – an entrepreneurial spirit committed to growing local businesses and creating jobs here in our state. Like a true Jedi Master, Wingo continues to guide and inspire the next generation of founders building the companies of tomorrow.
Organizations like NC IDEA have become an integral part of our innovation ecosystem, helping entrepreneurs turn ideas into businesses and businesses into engines of economic growth. Their work reminds us that innovation doesn’t just happen. It requires intentional investment, guidance, collaboration, and a willingness to take risks on bold ideas.
As we build the future of AI, we must challenge ourselves to ensure that more venture capital and startup investments are directed toward solving the challenges faced by small and medium-sized businesses, not just the needs of large enterprises. New technologies are often first designed for organizations with significant resources and dedicated technology teams. We should reverse that trend.
North Carolina has an opportunity to become a national leader in supporting AI startups that help Main Street businesses become more productive, competitive, and innovative. By encouraging entrepreneurs, investors, and organizations like NC IDEA to focus on solutions for small and medium-sized businesses, we can ensure that the benefits of AI are widely shared across our economy and community.
This work comes at a critical time.
In my AI Fireside Chat a few years ago, former Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers called on states and localities across the country, including North Carolina, to develop comprehensive AI strategies, arguing that AI will be one of the defining economic opportunities of our generation.
North Carolina must accept this challenge.
As North Carolina continues to develop its AI strategy, I want to encourage policymakers to ensure small businesses have a seat at the table. The Governor’s AI Leadership Council has an important responsibility to help shape North Carolina’s future in this rapidly evolving field, but that future should not be defined solely by large corporations, research institutions, and technology companies.
Small businesses employ nearly half of North Carolina’s workforce and are the backbone of North Carolina’s economy. Their perspectives, challenges, and opportunities must be part of the conversation. Whether it’s a mom-and-pop manufacturer looking to automate, a local retailer implementing AI-powered marketing tools, or a startup developing the next generation of innovative products, small businesses will be the primary beneficiaries and users of AI.
If North Carolina truly wants to become an AI emerging state, we need broad representation on the AI task force, including entrepreneurs, small business owners, startup founders, and organizations supporting Main Street businesses. Their voices will help ensure that AI policies, workforce initiatives, education investments, and economic development strategies create opportunities for businesses of all sizes in every corner of our state.
The AI revolution is not something that will happen to small businesses. It has to be something that helps them shape it from the beginning.
The future will not just belong to those who use AI, but to those who learn how to integrate AI into their operations, customer service, marketing, workforce development, and long-term growth plans.
As we reminded readers in a previous article, North Carolina has the opportunity to become an AI emerging state. It is a place where innovation, entrepreneurship, education and public-private partnerships work together to create broad economic opportunities.
This vision requires leadership from all sectors. This will require universities that continue to produce world-class talent, policymakers who create an environment that fosters innovation while protecting consumers, technology leaders who share expertise and best practices, investors who actively support bold ideas, and organizations like RDU Labs who help Main Street companies navigate this new frontier.
As the Carolina Hurricanes pursue the Stanley Cup and the world focuses on the FIFA World Cup, we are reminded that success is built on preparation, teamwork, opportunity and execution. Artificial intelligence should help level the playing field for North Carolina entrepreneurs, not by replacing people, but by giving businesses of all sizes the tools to compete, grow and innovate in an increasingly global economy.
Our AI goals should be simple. It’s about giving every small business, from local manufacturers and mom-and-pop retailers to accounting firms, restaurants and startup founders, access to the same transformational technology that larger organizations have in place.
If we get this right, North Carolina’s small businesses will no longer be sitting on the sidelines of the AI revolution. They will score goals, create chances and help our state win on the world stage.
Just as Jim Hunt helped champion a vision that established North Carolina’s leadership in the knowledge economy, our generation now has the opportunity to build the foundation for leadership in the AI economy. Future generations will judge us not on whether we recognized the opportunity before us, but on whether we had the courage to seize it.
The AI revolution is here. The challenge before us is to ensure that Main Street is not left behind.
North Carolina has always succeeded by uniting people around a common vision. By doing the same with AI, we can build a future where innovation creates opportunity for everyone, strengthens communities, expands economic growth, and ensures that businesses of all sizes have a chance not only to compete, but to win.
That’s a goal worth pursuing.
