As a first-time attendee at Honolulu Tech Week, I was struck by the energy and commitment fueling Hawaii’s tech ecosystem. The week spanned seven days, and in the four I joined, I heard from founders, investors, educators, policymakers, and community builders who are shaping Hawaii’s role in the global tech landscape. What stood out most was the mix of creativity and sheer hard work on display.
HTW isn’t just about pitches and panels; it’s about surfacing the conversations that matter most to this community. While dozens of themes ran throughout the week, two threads kept drawing me in: how AI is shaping nearly every corner of tech, and how Hawai‘i can create and sustain well-paid jobs for its residents.
AI in unexpected places
AI showed up everywhere, from startup pitches to ocean innovation panels. At the Blue Startups Demo Day, the founders I spoke with were all experimenting with AI in some form. But what really stood out was how different the applications were. In one conversation, AI was about scaling high-touch hospitality services; in another, it was about improving access to perimenopause and menopause care. During the Advancing Pacific Collaboration: Ports, Coastal Resiliency, and Ocean Innovation session hosted by 1000 Ocean Startups and ThriveHI, the panel discussed how AI is being trained on bioacoustics and tidal patterns to support aquaculture and coastal resilience.
The takeaway for me wasn’t that AI is everywhere — we already know that. It was seeing how intentionally it’s being deployed here, and how much emphasis there is on using it to solve real problems and create positive impact.
Building a tech workforce in Hawai‘i
The other theme that kept surfacing was closer to home: jobs. Hawai‘i has the highest cost of living in the country, yet wages in many industries lag far behind the national average. At the Talent Leadership Mixer hosted by AEP Hawaii, I found myself in a deep conversation about the tension so many professionals here feel. Do you stay home, close to family and culture, or move away for higher wages?
It’s not an easy problem to solve. Many mainland companies remain hesitant to hire talent based in Hawai‘i, even with remote work now normalized. Local companies, meanwhile, are still figuring out how to compete on pay. But hearing these conversations at HTW gave me hope. Groups like Hawai‘i Women in Tech are creating networks of support and visibility, and events like HTW are putting the issue on center stage where it belongs.
Community in action
One of the highlights for me was Wahine in Tech: Surfing the Future hosted by HWIT and sponsored by Hub Coworking Hawaii. The event introduced more than a dozen women from various fields, including AI, edtech, gaming, marketing, and recruiting, who are committed to supporting one another. After introductions, we broke into roundtables for open, user-generated conversations. The vibe was upbeat and welcoming, and in just a few hours, real connections were being made. It was a reminder that building an inclusive tech community here is about the people who choose to show up for each other.
Startups to watch
HTW also gave us the chance to celebrate new companies coming out of the Blue Startups accelerator. Five that caught my attention:
- Stacklist – Helping people save and share everything that matters across today’s fragmented digital world.
- G-Space – Developing in-space manufacturing technologies to make off-Earth production more feasible and cost-effective.
- Abra – Bringing “hospitality magic” into the digital age by helping hotels scale service without losing their human touch.
- Gliss Wellness – Offering expert menopause care via telehealth, with plans to use AI to extend access across healthcare deserts.
- Olelo Intelligence – Building AI tools that directly connect business processes to measurable results, with a verticalized approach showing how AI can deliver real impact for specific industries.
Each is tackling a different problem, but together they show the range and ambition of Hawaii’s innovation ecosystem.
Looking ahead
My first HTW filled me with optimism. Hawaii’s tech community is small but mighty. Rooted in local values but connected across the Pacific, it is increasingly tied to global conversations about AI, sustainability, and the future of work. HTW reminded me that innovation here isn’t about replicating Silicon Valley. It’s about building something uniquely ours—one that reflects the challenges and opportunities of living on these islands. And that feels like a future worth investing in.
— Tiffany