Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly applauded the announcement of a major investment in Leawood from Torch.AI, a global leader in artificial intelligence and machine learning. The company will invest $45 million and create 490 high-paying, full-time cybersecurity-related jobs in the community.
“With our strong public schools and top-tier workforce, Kansas is one of the best places in the nation to do business,” said Governor Laura Kelly. “Torch.AI will bring sophisticated, high-wage tech jobs to Kansas and will improve our ability to recruit forward-thinking tech experts to our state. I look forward to seeing the incredible developments that will undoubtedly come from this new facility.”
Torch.AI uses machine learning to enable massively scaled, high-performance data processing. The company is committed to training and upskilling professionals across the state to prepare them for jobs in Kansas’ tech and cyber sector. The company already is working with a growing network of local universities to influence the curriculum, while creating new IT and data science professionals and preparing them to enter this high-income field.
“Torch.AI is investing in Kansas at the perfect time,” Lieutenant Governor and Commerce Secretary David Toland said. “Our state’s renewed commitment to innovation through the Framework for Growth will be a massive advantage for this future-focused business – and the new tech jobs created will be perfectly aligned with the professionals created every day at our outstanding higher education institutions. Torch.AI and Kansas’ new way of doing business are a perfect fit.”
“It’s an honor to align the growth trajectory of Torch.AI with Kansas initiatives to expand its economy and regional impact as a tech hub,” Brian Weaver, founder, chairman and CEO of Torch.AI, said. “Demand for our advanced AI and data services continues to grow as the intelligence and security communities attempt to organize and analyze unprecedented levels of data. We’ve long known there is untapped talent here in the region that can help the government and commercial sectors solve significant challenges. This agreement represents our commitment to harness the wealth of experience and skillsets in the Kansas City region and develop new talent to expand our capabilities and customer impact.”