Tuesday, October 21, 2025

October 21, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes

Tuesday, October 21, 2025 

In today’s digest, New York gets a new baseball team, the latest studies on jobs and AI, and the data behind why your subway was late today. 🚇

  • But first: Tech:NYC is teaming up with Crain’s New York Business for the Tech Summit on Oct. 23 (this Thursday)!

    • Hear how AI is transforming industries from speakers including Kate Ryder (Maven Clinic), Eric Kinariwala (Capsule), Laura Peterson (Accenture), and many more Tech:NYC friends. 

    • Join us with promo code FRIENDSOFTECHNYC for a 15% discount here.

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  • Coming soon to a Metro-North station near you: Service from NYC to Albany! Governor Kathy Hochul announced today that starting this spring, Metro-North will run trains past Poughkeepsie through the Hudson Valley to the state capital. 🚂 (New York Times)

  • There’s an addition to the New York City skyline. 🏢 JPMorgan’s new NYC HQ looks like a sci-fi set, and that’s the point. The $3 billion, 60-story Park Avenue tower officially opened today. (Reuters)

    • It can fit 10,000 workers and comes complete with biometric access, a Michelin-starred vegan restaurant, and even a drone port.

    • The designers say the building’s recycled materials and high-tech design is meant to make it both eco-friendly and commute-worthy. 👏

  • Move over, Mets and Yankees: Women’s baseball is coming to NYC. ⚾ New York, Boston, LA, and San Francisco will host a “league of their own,” known as the Women’s Pro Baseball League, starting next spring. (CBS News)

    • The upstart league cofounded by Justine Siegal — the first woman to coach for an MLB team with the Oakland Athletics in 2015  — announced plans to launch in 2026 as a six-team circuit with a regular season, playoffs, and all-star game.


In other reading:

  • Garbage containers land on Brooklyn streets, NYC's latest step to get trash off sidewalks (Gothamist)

  • The data behind New York City's subway delays (Crain’s New York Business)

  • My favorite area in New York City is tucked away, less crowded, with eclectic local shops (Islands) 

How AI Is Powering the Job Market

Across industries, AI is helping workers do more, learn faster, and build new skill sets that didn’t exist just a few years ago. Let’s take a look. 

💼 A familiar labor market: Since ChatGPT’s debut in late 2022, the pace of change has been steady. A new Yale Budget Lab study found the labor market is evolving at a rate comparable to past tech booms, like the early internet. 

🔍 NYC’s tech scene is hiring: Tech:NYC’s Jobs Board currently features over 3,400 NYC-based jobs from over 380 tech companies, a snapshot of a sector that’s buzzing.

Some insights from the last month:

  • The top five job functions searched by job seekers: Marketing & Communications, Product, Software Engineering, Sales & Business Development, and Operations.

  • Top job functions posted by employers: Software Engineering (by far), IT, Operations, Sales & Business Development, and Customer Service.

🔥 Some hot jobs from our Jobs Board: 

TL;DR: Companies want coders, candidates want communicators, and NYC still has room for both.

📈 Upskilling is trending: Indeed’s data shows jobs mentioning training programs have more than doubled since 2018. Even in AI-exposed roles, companies are upskilling rather than downsizing.

  • Only 8.1% of job listings mention training, but that number is rising fast — especially in industries most vulnerable to automation, like finance and marketing.

😌 Workers are chill (mostly): A Gallup-backed survey found 60% of Americans lack “quality jobs,” but those who have a say in how AI is used at work are way happier.

💡 The takeaway: AI’s impact looks evolutionary, not revolutionary. Workers who help steer tech adoption — instead of just watching it — report higher satisfaction, better training, and more job stability.

  • Across industries, companies integrating AI collaboratively — from IBM to JPMorgan — are seeing both higher productivity and stronger retention.

  • Acelab, an NYC-based workflow platform for architects, raised $13.5 million in Series A funding. Navitas Capital led the round, joined by JLL Spark and DivcoWest.

  • Andel, an NYC-based provider of lower-cost medications via employers, raised $4.5 million from Lightbank, Seedcamp, Bertelsmann Healthcare Investments, Houghton Street Ventures, and Springboard.

  • Hyro, an NYC-based developer of call-center agents for health care, raised $45 million.. Healthier Capital led the round, joined by Norwest, Define Ventures, Bon Secours Mercy Health, and ServiceNow Ventures.

  • Magic, an NYC-based restaurant-focused CRM, raised $10 million in seed funding. Lerer Hippeau led the round, joined by Bling Capital, Floodgate, Major Food Group, and VCR Group.

  • ​​Moonshot AI, an NYC-based developer of an AI-powered platform designed to autonomously optimize online stores, raised $10 million in seed funding. Mighty Capital led the round and was joined by Oceans Ventures, Uncorrelated, Garuda Ventures, and Almaz Capital.

  • October 22-23: Fundraising Strategy & Storytelling Workshop, a hands-on two-day workshop for early-stage founders preparing for fundraising and getting real feedback from top founders and investors on pitch deck. Register here.

  • October 23: NYC AI Demos, a series collab between Tech:NYC, Pensar AI, and the Refinery at Domino, this month featuring live demos from ElevenLabs, Oscar Health, Tabs, Whop, Slingshot AI, Rogo, QuantumBlack AI by McKinsey, and Cyborg. Register here.

  • October 23: Tech:NYC and Crain’s Tech Summit, a day of conversations that explore how AI is transforming key industries — from reshaping real estate tools and bedside care to revolutionizing financial strategies and raising urgent legal considerations. Register with promo code FRIENDSOFTECHNYC for a 15% discount here.

  • October 23: Curated Founder Breakfast, a private breakfast for a curated group of early-stage founders who are fundraising soon. Register here.

  • October 24: AI Builders & Ramen, for a curated group of AI engineers, consultants, or enthusiasts for an evening of great conversations over ramen. Register here.

  • October 25: Antler NYC Hackathon, a chance for founders to meet and scout technical talent, and for participants to showcase skills, collaborate with founders, and explore potential cofounder or early team roles. Register here.

  • October 28: SIEDC Elevate Tech Summit, where you can dive into specialized tracks in AI, marketing, and business operations, featuring top leaders and innovators shaping the future of tech in the tri-state area. Register here.

  • October 28: Curated Founder Breakfast, a private breakfast for a curated group of founders from Seed to Series B. Register here.

  • October 28: Building AI Agents for the Enterprise, exploring how cutting-edge teams are designing, deploying, and scaling AI systems that drive real business outcomes across industries. Register here.

  • November 5: NYCB2B: AI Startup Social, an evening of food, drinks, and all things AI while overlooking Midtown Manhattan, Bryant Park, and the Empire State Building. Register here.

  • November 7: AcceleratorCon, for top early-stage founders connect directly with investors, accelerators, and ecosystem partners. Register with promo code NYCDIGEST for a 30% discount here.

  • November 11-12: Urban Tech Summit, offering insights and examples of how researchers, companies, governments, and communities can continue to drive innovation, and how urban tech can help cities do more with less as they prepare for the future. Register here.

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