Ahmed said that almost happened with Whoop. In 2012, as he neared graduation, Ahmed was planning to move to New York to start his company when he learned that Harvard’s innovation lab offered free office space. The experience taught him that many entrepreneurial graduates were ignorant of startup resources in the area.
Fast forward to now: The new coalition “was really born out of this feeling that Boston and Massachusetts broadly contribute enormously to AI, but we’re not getting necessarily the credit and the talent staying power that we deserve,” Ahmed said. “And a question was, how do we keep and attract great talent in this state around developing AI, and how do we scale AI more broadly as a capability for this city and state.”
Committees and coalitions don’t have the best reputation for getting things done. But the Massachusetts coalition has quickly created a nine-part structure, each with concrete plans and goals, aiming to attract students and entrepreneurs to found companies here and help them expand and grow.
A segment dubbed “Causeway,” for example, will help early-stage AI companies expand here with resources including a job board, dedicated recruiter, and pre-negotiated rates for legal, accounting, and other services.
“If you can get 10 people here, you’re probably going to stay here,” said Lily Lyman, general partner at Underscore VC who is helping lead the Causeway effort.
The coalition’s ultimate goal is to double the number of so-called unicorns, or startups valued at $1 billion or more, based in Massachusetts from less than 100 now to 200 in the next five years.
Whoop hosted the coalition’s first big event last week, and attracted a strong showing from Boston’s tech community, including numerous members of the Globe’s Tech Power Players list such as Lyman, Toast cofounder Steve Fredette, and VC-turned-Secretary of Economic Development Eric Paley.
Governor Maura Healey made an appearance to unveil the state’s deal to make a ChatGPT-powered app available to state workers, and to chat with OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, who appeared remotely (and begged off Healey’s effort to woo him back to the East Coast).
Ryan Durkin, vice president in charge of AI at work at Whoop who helped organize the coalition, told the crowd of more than 200 people that each of the group’s task forces, like Causeway, has a specific mission, defined objectives, a leader from the local tech community, and a high-level executive sponsor. Another, “Tavern,” is focused on bringing people together and will host events from vibe coding sessions to retraining workshops for more experienced workers. And “Treaty” aims to assist in dealmaking with introductions to VIPs and key government and university contacts.
“The idea of Boston, all of us being like these tough, kind of gruff people, I think that story is over,” Durkin told the crowd. “I think the Puritan values whole thing, that story is over. Like, if those were our parents or parents’ parents, fine, but it’s not us anymore.”
🤖 Boston Dynamics CEO steps down as robotics firm looks for new leader. Read more from tech reporter Aaron Pressman.
🔮 Prediction market company files federal lawsuit against Massachusetts. Read more from consumer reporter Sean Murphy.
🛵 City Councilor proposes banning delivery app drivers from using e-bikes or mopeds. Read more from City Hall reporter Niki Griswold.
✈️ Hedge fund Starboard Value pushes for Tripadvisor to be sold. Read more from business reporter Jon Chesto.
🛥️ The Pentagon put out a call for autonomous boats. Two Navy veterans started a Rhode Island company to make them. Read more from Rhode Island reporter Christopher Gavin.
🏆 Who’s No. 1 among Massachusetts public companies? You can’t spell the name without ‘GE.’ Read more from business reporter Jon Chesto.
💸 Private equity firm HarbourVest Partners in Boston raised $1.1 billion for a continuation investing fund.
⚡ Nuclear energy startup Alva Energy in Cambridge raised $33 million in a deal led by Playground Global.
🔒 Cybersecurity company VulnCheck in Lexington raised $25 million in a deal led by Sorenson Capital.
👀 Computer vision company Cognex in Natick is adding Sami Atiya, a former executive at ABB, and Chris Donato, president and chief revenue officer of Zendesk, to its board of directors. Current board members Robert Willett, former CEO of Cognex, and Dianne Parrotte are retiring.
🚨 Security tech company Evolv Technologies in Waltham added Henrik Kühl, senior vice president, strategy & corporate development at Axon, to its board. Current board member Bilal Zuberi resigned.
👋 Industrial software company HighByte in Portland, Maine, added Scott Harden, senior vice president and chief technology officer at Schneider Electric, to its board of directors.
Can you trust LastPass in 2026? Inside the multimillion-dollar quest to rebuild its security culture (ZDNet)
David J. Farber, ‘Grandfather of the Internet,’ Dies at 91 (New York Times)
Who needs a laptop when you have a folding phone?(The Verge)
👋 Thanks for reading. We’ll be will be back next Tuesday.
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Aaron Pressman can be reached at aaron.pressman@globe.com. Follow him @ampressman.
