More Than 2,000 Ohioans Certified in AI Through Free AI Ready Ohio Initiative as It Comes to Columbus

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Sept. 10, 2026 - More than 2,000 Ohioans have started or completed the free AI Ready Ohio since its launch in November 2025. The initiative, powered by JobsOhio and run by the Enterprise Technology Association (ETA), has provided free AI certification to 1,500 Ohioans so far this year. It will certify more this week at the third annual Columbus AI Week.

Columbus AI Week, a two-day conference, starts today at Vitria on the Square and goes through tomorrow. Hundreds of attendees from more than 250 Ohio organizations can earn credit hours toward an AI Ready Ohio certificate by attending qualifying sessions and workshops - the same free, accredited pathways now available to every Ohioan online. The two organizations are targeting 3,000 certified Ohioans this year through a combination of online coursework and in-person training at AI Week conferences and community workshops statewide.

AI Ready Ohio offers three certificate tiers built for different levels of AI fluency: AI Explorer, for foundational AI literacy; AI Empowered Professional, for people putting AI to work in day-to-day roles; and AI Empowered Leader, for executives setting AI strategy. Demand has concentrated around practical, job-ready skills, with the most popular tracks covering Microsoft Copilot for professionals, building agents and automations with Claude and Claude Code, AI basics and AI governance for executive leaders.

The Columbus training follows the expansion into Northeast Ohio. On Aug. 26, ETA hosted the first AI Ready Ohio Virtual Town Hall and AI Training Day, drawing nearly 300 Ohioans and enrolling more than 500 in online training courses. Enrollment in the online courses will open to additional learners this fall.

To scale successfully, AI companies need customers ready to adopt new technologies, cost-effective places to grow, and talent capable of deploying AI in real-world operations," said JobsOhio President and CEO J.P. Nauseef. "Ohio delivers all three. Every Ohioan who earns a certificate strengthens the third, and that is what will power intelligent factories, connected hospitals, and the next generation of defense systems here at home.

Columbus AI Week takes place over two days and is powered by ETA and JobsOhio. Day One, the AI Leadership Summit, covers policy, capital, workforce and regional strategy. Day Two, the AI for Business Summit, turns to agents, operating models and enterprise deployment. More than 90 speakers will present across 65 sessions and three concurrent stages, spanning Ohio startup founders and enterprise leaders from Tesla, Google, NVIDIA, Salesforce, Microsoft, Path Robotics and Physna, alongside faculty and researchers from The Ohio State University, the University of Cincinnati and other Ohio research universities.

Making America AI-ready is no longer aspirational; it's urgent," said Summer Crenshaw, co-founder and CEO of ETA. "Columbus AI Week is where the blueprint gets used. Someone can walk into a workshop Thursday morning, walk out with credit hours toward a certificate, and apply what they learned at work on Monday.

ETA and JobsOhio launched AI Ready Ohio in November 2025 during Great Lakes AI Week at Bowling Green State University, as the country's first AI Ready State initiative. The pilot exceeded its original certification goal by 170 percent, prompting the statewide expansion announced in May, which extended in-person training across the Cincinnati, Columbus, and Toledo areas and opened online coursework to all Ohio residents.

The number that matters here is people," said JobsOhio Chief Data and AI Officer Payal Thakur, who will detail the initiative's progress during a keynote on Ohio's AI Super Sector at Columbus AI Week. "Two thousand Ohioans have chosen to build AI skills through this initiative, and they did it for free, in their own communities and on their own schedules. That is how a state closes a skills gap - not with a single announcement, but by showing up in Bowling Green, in Cincinnati, in Cleveland and now in Columbus.

AI Ready Ohio, powered by JobsOhio and operated by ETA, is an important tool in JobsOhio's AI Super Sector strategy, positioning Ohio as the ideal location for America's AI deployment - where breakthrough technologies meet real-world industry applications at speed and scale. Ohio pairs a diversified $928 billion economy and first-adopter customers across life sciences, manufacturing, automotive, aerospace and defense, logistics, agriculture and financial services with an AI-capable workforce of more than 600,000 STEM students and professionals. In July, CNBC named Ohio America's No. 1 Top State for Business for the first time, with A+ marks in the study's two most heavily weighted categories, infrastructure and cost of doing business.

AI Ready Ohio is free and open to all Ohio residents. To enroll or learn more, visit aireadyohio.org. Information on Columbus AI Week, including registration and the full agenda, is available at joinaiweek.com. The next opportunity for in-person AI Ready Ohio training is the 2026 Great Lakes AI Week Nov. 10-12, in Toledo.

About JobsOhio

JobsOhio, Ohio's private nonprofit economic development corporation, enhances company growth and personnel development through business attraction, retention, and expansion across 10 competitive industry sectors. With a team of seasoned professionals, JobsOhio utilizes a comprehensive network to foster talent production in targeted industries and attract talent through Find Your Ohio. Collaborating with seven regional partners, including the Regional Growth Partnership, JobsOhio delivers world-class customer service to provide companies with a competitive advantage. Learn more at www.jobsohio.com.

About the Enterprise Technology Association (ETA)

The ETA is a national organization dedicated to AI education, training, and ecosystem building. Communities outside Silicon Valley will succeed in the AI economy by building on their own industrial strengths, community assets, and talent networks. ETA works to ensure people are equipped to thrive in the AI-driven economy through initiatives like AI Ready Ohio, the National AI Accelerator, and the US AI Congress. Learn more at www.joineta.org.

Media Contacts

Matt Englehart

Press Secretary, JobsOhio

[email protected] | 614-300-1152

Enterprise Technology Association

[email protected]

joinaiweek.com