OPINION: Beyond the brain drain: New Mexico’s new tech reality 

For years, New Mexico’s talent pipeline has been framed by a familiar worry: “brain drain.” The prevailing assumption was that our most talented students and early-career professionals would earn their degrees here, then leave — drawn elsewhere by higher salaries, deeper networks and clearer career paths. That narrative once had merit. Today, it no longer reflects reality. 

As founders of NM Tech Talks, we work closely with students, technologists, entrepreneurs, investors and employers across the state. What we see is not an exodus, but an inflection point. New Mexico is no longer just a training ground for the future; it is becoming a place where serious technology companies are built, funded and scaled.

One reason is impossible to ignore: capital is flowing into New Mexico at historic levels.

The state’s permanent fund, now exceeding $67 billion, has increasingly been deployed through a growing venture program designed to invest directly in high-growth technology companies. In just the past year alone, billion-dollar-scale investments in advanced energy and fusion technology were signed and implemented here, with more deals actively in development.

This scale of investment marks a shift from promise to permanence — and it raises a clear question for the state: Do we have the talent pipeline ready to meet the moment?

The global tech economy is more competitive than ever, and the stakes are high. Around the world, nations are racing to lead in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing and cybersecurity – technologies that will define economic and geopolitical power for decades. In the global tech race, countries that fall behind risk ceding leadership and influence.

For New Mexico, this competition creates both opportunity and urgency. Rather than pursuing careers elsewhere, young professionals can now build world-class technology ventures here that contribute to American innovation. These advanced technologies – from artificial intelligence to aerospace – demand long-term research, specialized infrastructure and physical space to scale responsibly. These industries are particularly well-suited to New Mexico, with its national laboratories, tier-1 research universities, testing assets and unmatched geography.

As capital arrives, opportunity is changing for workers as well. Tech roles in New Mexico increasingly offer salaries that compete nationally when adjusted for cost of living, while providing a quality of life that has become out of reach in legacy tech hubs. Just as important, these jobs are often mission driven. Engineers and developers here are working on energy resilience, food systems, climate adaptation and national security, often in direct partnership with national labs, universities and early-stage companies.

Still, opportunity alone is not enough. One of the most consistent barriers we hear from early-career professionals is not a lack of jobs, but a lack of visibility. Many want to stay in New Mexico but struggle to see how a long-term tech career here fits together.

That is where community matters.

TechFest, which first launched in October 2024 and returns this fall for its third year, was designed to make New Mexico’s tech ecosystem visible. As the state’s largest free technology conference, it brings together software and AI leaders, climate and advanced energy innovators, entrepreneurs, educators and advocates for diversity in tech — groups that rarely share the same room.

For attendees, TechFest is not about a single job or panel. It is about seeing the ecosystem in motion through meeting mentors, finding collaborators, and understanding how career paths connect.

Alongside TechFest, NM Tech Talks supports deeper, hands-on pathways into entrepreneurship and business formation. In 2026, the Desert Dev Lab Hackathon, will focus on food and agriculture, a sector central to New Mexico’s economy and long-term resilience. Unlike a conference, the hackathon is designed to move ideas from concept to execution, pairing technical talent with mentorship, business support and pathways to capital.

The goal is not just to build prototypes over a weekend. It is to help ideas mature into viable ventures that create jobs and anchor talent locally.

Retaining skilled workers is not about convincing people to stay for the sake of staying. It is about ensuring they can find meaningful work, professional growth and a sense of belonging. Historically, New Mexico has not lacked ambition or capability, but connectivity.

If we want different outcomes, we must tell a different story grounded in what is already happening. New Mexico offers mission-driven careers, a collaborative tech community, and a growing network designed to help people build, not just pass through.

The infrastructure is here. The talent is here. And increasingly, so is the opportunity to stay.

The future of technology does not belong only to the coasts or traditional hubs. In New Mexico, it is already being designed, funded and launched by people choosing to build their careers, and their lives, right here, contributing to America’s innovation ecosystem to compete on the world stage.

Paul Zelizer and Vicki Apodaca are founders of NM Tech Talks, a collaborative of tech organizations working together to bring an inclusive tech community to New Mexico.