New York has overtaken the San Francisco Bay Area to become North America's largest tech talent hub, according to a new industry report. This shift in the competitive landscape is being driven by Wall Street's surging demand for artificial intelligence professionals, although the Bay Area retains its edge in several key categories.
The findings come from CBRE's 2026 Tech Talent Assessment Report, which shows New York's metropolitan area added 30,640 tech workers between 2022 and 2025, bringing its total to 394,300. Over the same period, the San Francisco Bay Area saw its tech workforce decline by 23,900, settling at 375,730. This marks the first time in the report's 13-year history that New York has claimed the top spot for tech talent volume.
The shifting dynamics highlight the more diversified nature of New York's tech economy. In the Bay Area, 61% of tech professionals work directly for high-tech companies, whereas New York's tech workforce is spread across a broader range of industries, including a significant presence in financial services.
As of mid-2026, the number of tech professionals with AI skills across the U.S. and Canada has surged 45% year-over-year to 751,000. The San Francisco Bay Area still leads in absolute numbers of AI specialists, with AI-related job postings accounting for 26% of all tech listings, compared to 17% in New York. However, in the financial services sector specifically, New York and Dallas-Fort Worth are tied for the highest concentration of AI talent among major markets at 20%, edging out Toronto's 19% and Chicago's 16%.
Financial institutions are competing directly with technology companies for professionals who can deploy AI in real-world applications within highly regulated business environments. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon recently signaled that the bank may expand its AI workforce, stating in an interview: "There are going to be all kinds of jobs, and I think on some of them, we're going to hire more AI people and less bankers." The bank's data and AI division encompasses teams focused on LLM applications, fraud models, risk systems, personalization, and automation.
Major banks including JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America are making substantial investments in artificial intelligence to drive efficiency gains, with Bank of America already reporting measurable results. During the bank's second-quarter earnings call, CFO Alastair Borthwick noted: "Our new AI capabilities are making our more than 200,000 employees more productive, contributing to our 59% efficiency ratio, which improved by about 360 basis points from last year."
The slowdown in tech industry hiring and reduction in layoffs have also created opportunities for non-tech employers to build out their technology teams. According to CBRE data, the financial services, insurance, and real estate sectors have added 90,530 technology positions since 2022, while the high-tech industry has shed 21,262 roles during the same period.