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Silicon Valley leaders praise North West collaboration while warning of AI’s “Messy Middle”
Policy chiefs from San Francisco’s Bay Area Council delivered a message to employers and educators, revealing that the artificial intelligence train has left the station with no final destination yet in sight.
Addressing delegates at Derry’s Guildhall for the NW 2026: Realising our Digital Potential conference, Bay Area Council Vice President of Public Policy Kelly Cure and Chief Policy Officer Matt Regan praised the region’s collaborative spirit while issuing a warning we are currently trapped in a volatile “messy middle” where leaders are torn between utopian and dystopian visions of an AI future.
The conference was part of the NW DEPTH initiative, an ambitious learner-centred digital skill project – supported by PEACEPLUS, a programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) – that will deliver flexible study opportunities for upskilling and reskilling the North West’s workforce.
The conference was convened by North West Tertiary Education Cluster comprising of Atlantic Technological University (ATU), Ulster University (UU), Northwest Regional College (NWRC), and Donegal ETB. The event was officially opened by Mayor of Derry, Grace Ní Niallais and hosted by former RTE broadcaster, Sean O’Rourke. The conference hosted five panel discussions on the digital future of the North West and featured keynote speakers. Delegates were told that even the world’s leading tech titans do not possess all the answers to the current economic shift.
Matt Regan, a Derry City native representing California’s Bay Area Council which has some of the world’s biggest corporate employers including Apple, Google, Meta, and YouTube, told delegates, “It’s our responsibility as fosterers of the economy to put the appropriate guardrails on AI and make sure that AI benefits our economy and humanity as a whole.”
Citing economic research from the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, Bay Area Council Vice President of Public Policy, Kelly Cure shared that the data reveals early career professionals such as young software developers and administrative workers are being hit hardest and advises regions like the North West to proactively restructure their training pipelines to help reduce the risk of growing wealth disparity, “The truth of the matter is, for our higher educated populations in California, we are seeing unemployment claims go up… especially in the tech sector. And this is where we’re seeing some interesting trends in the Bay Area.” Kelly added, “We’re feeling some wealth disparity, we’re feeling inequality grow….data on software developers and young software developers, the stalling in hiring, unemployment claims going up, is real.
Despite the warnings, the Silicon Valley delegation offered a vote of confidence in the North West. Matt Regan said that the region’s collaborative cross-border approach puts it ahead of major American hubs still struggling to build cohesive strategies,
The North West is probably ahead of the pack in terms of trying to grapple with these problems. We have not yet successfully grappled with them in San Francisco and the Bay Area; we’re still trying to figure it out ourselves.”
Kelly Cure praised the rare alignment of academic institutions, local government, and regional enterprises in the room, “There’s so many businesses here today. There’s students here, you have administrators, educators, small business organisations here, and with that sort of cross-sector collaboration, you can’t necessarily go wrong because you’re listening to all perspectives.”
Kelly Cure concluded, “I think the main message that I have today, is actually the ‘messy middle’ is a time for us to shape it ourselves and to really be at the table.”
Photo Caption:
Front row: JoAnne Kilmartin, Senior Development Officer, North South Engagement Centre; Matt Regan, Chief Policy Officer ,Bay Area Council; Dr Orla Flynn, President of ATU; Kelly Cure Vice President of Public Policy, Bay Area Council; and Eve-Anne McCorran, Engagement Manager ATU, Back row: Dr Paddy Hannigan, ATU; Dr Brendan Jennings, Chief Officer for Research, Innovation & Engagement at ATU; Paul Hannigan, VP for Cross Border Engagement at ATU; and Mick McCann, Lecturer ATU.
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