Southwest Florida Tech Pulse Forum

The SWFL Tech Pulse 2025 confirms what many across the region are experiencing firsthand: the Gulf Coast Tech Corridor is emerging, talent and innovation are growing, and collaboration is strengthening. The next challenge is clear — moving from momentum to maturity.

This event brings together regional leaders to explore what it will take to build lasting capacity across Southwest Florida’s tech economy — from AI readiness and workforce alignment to startup growth and operational scale.

Through three focused panel discussions, we will examine how founders, employers, educators, and ecosystem partners can work together to ensure tech companies don’t just start here — but scale and stay here.

What We’ll Explore at the Forum

• Building the Gulf Coast Tech Corridor: How regional collaboration, shared identity, and cross-sector alignment are shaping Southwest Florida’s emergence as a tech hub.

• Building Regional AI Capacity: What AI readiness means for employers, education, and the workforce — and how the region can move from experimentation to practical adoption.

• Building Regional Capacity for Tech Startups: What early-stage tech companies need to move from traction to growth — including capital access, mentorship, and ecosystem support.

• Building Regional Capacity to Scale Small Businesses Through Operational Leadership: Scaling requires founders to shift from doing the work to leading through repeatable systems—while building teams with the skills to execute, including the use of agentic AI without increasing cybersecurity risk.

Why Attend

• Gain practical insight into where the region is headed and what’s needed next

• Hear from leaders actively shaping Southwest Florida’s tech ecosystem

• Walk away with clear takeaways — for founders, providers, and regional partners

• Connect with others committed to building a stronger, more resilient tech economy

Closing & Networking

We’ll wrap the evening with closing reflections and an invitation to continue the conversation.

Speaker List

Speakers include founders, operators, educators, and ecosystem leaders with subject matter expertise to shape Southwest Florida’s tech economy.

John Ashford, Senior Manager - Data & AI, Arthrex

Megan Baskin, Director, SWFL Leadership Institute

Brett Bisbe, President & CEO, B2 Technology Solutions

Heidi Cramer, Business Consultant, SBDC @ FGCU

Jim Dobinski, Founder & Managing Director, StellarBlue.ai

Sebastian Leduc, Managing Partner, Espresso V

Peter Ocsody, Regional Coordinator, Cap Table Nation

Melanie Schmees, Strategist, Regional Economic Research Institute

Laura Schmidt, President, SWFL Tech

Wes Sprecher, President, Blue Water Components

John Talmage, Director, Lee County Economic Development Office

Stephen Tracy, Vice President of Technology, Entech

William Welch, Director of Business Services, CareerSource Southwest Florida

Meredith Whitehead, Principal, Memi Whitehead Consulting

THANK YOU to the Horizon Council for sponsoring the venue fee, water and light snacks for this event!

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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Host or Publisher SWFL Tech