How Smart Talent AI Benefits from Smart Cities Council Membership

Smart Talent AI started as a business in April 2025 and a month later went to San Francisco to participate in Smart Cities Summit.

Sunil Casuba, Founder & CEO of Smart Talent AI, talks about his business, what attracted him to Smart Cities Council, and how the relationship has helped Smart Talent AI build its customer base by leveraging the connections and event opportunities available to him.

To watch the video, Click Here.

Smart Talent AI  -  Wrapping Up 2025: A Year of Building, Learning, and Momentum

As 2025 comes to a close, I wanted to pause and reflect on what has been an unexpected, demanding, and deeply meaningful year - both personally and professionally.

At the beginning of 2025, I was working at a nonprofit as a talent specialist, focused on placing mission-driven professionals into impactful roles globally. Then, due to external factors entirely beyond my control, I was forced to pivot. What started as uncertainty quickly became an opportunity: in April 2025, I launched Smart Talent AI - my first time ever building a business of my own.

I didn’t start with a polished plan or a finished offering. I started with conversations, relationships, and a strong belief that AI only works when it’s paired with the right people, real workflows, and trust.

From Conversations to Clients

That belief was validated quickly.

At the Smart Cities Council North America Summit in San Francisco in May, I had a series of critical conversations that fundamentally shaped our smart city consulting approach - focusing on AI automation, data integration, and workforce realities, not abstract technology.

At that same summit, I met Smart Talent AI’s first city client.

Later, during Deep Tech Week in San Francisco, those same principles resonated with founders and operators - and that’s where I met our first SMB client.

Today, I’m proud to share that Smart Talent AI has secured two long-term contracts:

• One with an SMB, focused on AI automation and operational efficiency
• One with a city, centered on AI-enabled data integration and smarter public workflows

Both engagements follow our consultative, co-design approach - starting with real needs, embedding solutions into existing systems, and ensuring adoption sticks.

A Year on the Road  -  Building in Community

2025 was also a year defined by travel and community.

I made four trips to the Bay Area, where many of our ideas around smart cities, AI adoption, and workforce transformation were pressure-tested and refined through conversations with practitioners, founders, and city leaders.

Beyond the U.S., the journey expanded globally:

• GITEX Berlin (May), where I met a client ready to begin work on an AI education initiative in early 2026, and an investor eager to engage with the Smart Cities Council community
• Miami (Smart City Expo), resulting in two potential Florida-based city clients
• Warsaw and Made in Wrocław, engaging with local innovation ecosystems
• Asia Pacific Cities Summit, where I met over a dozen mayors and deputy mayors interested in Smart Cities Council programs and in Smart Talent AI supporting data and AI projects; I also had the honor of serving as a panelist on healthspan and livable cities, speaking directly to mayors and city leaders. To view panel, Click Here.
• Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, reconnecting with a global network of urban innovators

Closer to home, my core team and I participated in Smart Cities Connect / Smart City Expo in Washington, DC, where we hosted a panel discussion on AI and the Workforce, with a specific focus on city and public-sector talent realities.

In October, I hosted my first official Smart Talent AI event in San Francisco, centered on AI and the Workplace - a milestone moment that brought together technologists, operators, and leaders for an honest conversation about what’s changing and what still matters. To view panel, Click Here.

Along the way, I also joined podcast discussions on topics including:

• AI and the future of work
• Practical AI adoption
• Ethical and responsible AI

Gratitude and What’s Ahead

It’s been quite a year.

What started as a forced pivot became a global learning journey - one rooted in people, trust, and practical execution. None of this would have been possible without the Smart Cities Council, which opened doors, created community, and consistently fostered meaningful conversations across cities, companies, and continents.

As we head into 2026, Smart Talent AI remains committed to:

• Helping cities and SMBs turn AI intent into execution
• Pairing the right talent with the right problems
• Designing finite products and solutions that are responsible, adopted, and sustainable

Thank you to everyone who took a meeting, shared insight, challenged assumptions, or trusted us early.

Onward - and more to come.

Sunil Casuba
Founder & CEO, Smart Talent AI