Houston expert: How early tech exposure can prepare the future workforce

guest column

Getting children interested in technology is more important than ever before. Photo via Getty Images

In our ever-evolving digital landscape, there's no better time to embrace technology than now. This is evident by a fascinating prediction from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: a whopping 100,000 tech-related jobs are projected in the next decade. Intriguing, right?

What does this mean for the next generation? For starters, getting children interested in technology is more important than ever before.

In the same way that parents encourage their kids to develop a knack for languages, concepts, or habits early in life, that same emphasis is now being put on kids who play video games and may be interested in coding.

Now, instead of simply playing video games, they will also be preparing for their future in the process.

By learning the ins and outs of coding, the next generation will not just understand the technology we use every day, but also how it factors into the daily controls of our ever-advancing world.

Through coding classes, kids develop their own video games while honing in on skills such as critical thinking and problem solving. This emphasizes the use of setting clear learning goals, designing activities and assessments that allow students to achieve those goals in any field they decide to pursue a career in.

Children are provided an outlet that encourages creativity in a fun community-like environment that shows them to push their limits to think outside the box as they develop STEM skills. By providing a creative community, students are able to understand that it is important to share and listen to other ideas as a team.

Kids ultimately walk away with an appreciation for experimenting with new ideas and a sense of ownership and control over their work.

That creative mindset is key in allowing students to explore the ultimate forms of self-expression, exploration and discovery, which are all pivotal in their development towards future career success.

Beyond coding, kids who code also learn to use their skills to benefit their communities, from app development to innovative web solutions that help solve local problems. This helps provide another sense of self pride for the children.

While coding is at the core of what kids learn, the skills being taught transcend it. Every opportunity to code is a step toward molding resilient, innovative, and logical thinkers.

So, whether your kid wants to pursue a world in the technology industry, or just wants to be successful, coding will challenge them and prepare them for future success.

------

Dave Gandhi is owner of Missouri City Code Ninjas.

MD Anderson Cancer Center is a top place to work in the U.S. and Texas. Photo by F. Carter Smith/courtesy of MD Anderson

These Houston startups and companies clock in as the top employers in the U.S.

best of the rest

Whose boss is doing something right in Houston? Forbes set out to find out.

New rankings from Forbes identified the top employers in Houston and beyond, and that included both bigger companies and the country’s best startup employers. In Houston, the startups ranked as top employers are:

No. 120 — Imbuit
No. 310 — Code Ninjas (Pearland)
No. 353 — Axiom Space
No. 462 — Liongard

When it comes to more traditional businesses, Dr. Pete Pisters, CEO of MD Anderson Cancer Center, continues his reign. He was named a top boss in 2021. Now, the cancer treatment facility/research center he leads has been named one of the best employers in a new report.

MD Anderson Cancer Center ranked No. 10 among the country’s best large employers in the country. Staffing some 22,000 employees, the world-renowned cancer center also landed at No. 25 in Forbes list of America's Best Employers in 2021.

Other Houston-area companies on the list include: Houston Methodist (No. 37), Waste Management (No. 245), Sysco (No. 314), Shell Oil (no. 361), Halliburton (No. 389), Schlumberger (No. 403), ExxonMobil (No. 440), and BP (No. 487).

Other Texas employers ranked among the best large employers in the U.S. are:

  • No. 10 — MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston
  • No. 37 — Houston Methodist, Houston
  • No. 38 — H-E-B, San Antonio
  • No. 135 — USAA, San Antonio
  • No. 140 — Keller Williams Realty, Austin
  • No. 143 — Dell Technologies, Round Rock
  • No. 214 — Texas Tech University, Lubbock
  • No. 245 — Waste Management, Houston
  • No. 279 — University of Texas at Austin
  • No. 314 — Sysco, Houston
  • No. 318 — Daikin Industries, Waller (North American operations hub for manufacturing, marketing, research, R&D, and customer support)
  • No. 324 — Whole Foods Market, Austin
  • No. 361 — Shell Oil, Houston
  • No. 389 — Halliburton, Houston
  • No. 403 — Schlumberger, Houston
  • No. 440 — ExxonMobil, Houston
  • No. 487 — BP, Houston (North American headquarters)

Elsewhere in Texas, Dallas reigns as the capital of Texas when it comes to the best big and small employers, according to Forbes, which put University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas at No. 9 among the country’s best large employers in the country and Dallas-based life insurance platform Bestow at No. 16 among the country’s best startup employers.

UT Southwestern isn’t the only Dallas-Fort Worth employer to pop up on the Forbes list of the best large employers. Richardson-based software company RealPage sits at No. 49; Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, No. 56; Plano-based Toyota North America, No. 253; Plano-based Cinemark, No. 370; Dallas-based Jacobs, No. 375; Dallas-based Topgolf, No. 394; Dallas-based Primoris Services, No. 399; Irving-based Fluor, No. 422; Dallas-based CBRE, No. 423; Irving-based McKesson, No. 429; Fort Worth-based American Airlines, No. 446; and Plano-based Keurig Dr Pepper, No. 483.

Dallas-based software company Slync.io, holding the No. 290 spot for best startups.

What follows are the other Texas employers ranked among the best startup employers in the country.

Austin

No. 104 — Apty
No. 121 — Homeward
No. 169 — SparkCognition
No. 186 — Outdoor Voices
No. 255 — Outdoorsy
No. 323 — ICON
No. 324 — The Zebra
No. 330 — TrustRadius
No. 335 — Innovetive Petcare (Cedar Park)
No. 387 — AlertMedia
No. 400 — Iris Telehealth
No. 410 — Wheel
No. 455 — Billd
No. 460 — Aceable
No. 470 — Shipwell

Forbes teamed up with data and research company Statista to develop the rankings of the best large employers and best startup employers.

Three Houston companies are among the best startups for employees. 10'000 Hours/Getty Images

3 Houston companies plug into Forbes' first-ever best startup employers list

FORCES IN THE WORKFORCE

Three businesses based in the Houston area appear in Forbes magazine's inaugural ranking of the best startup employers.

Forbes teamed up with market research company Statista to identify up-and-coming companies that are liked most by those who work there. Researchers evaluated 2,500 U.S. businesses with 50 or more employees on three criteria: employer reputation, employee satisfaction, and growth. The result: Forbes' first-ever ranking, released March 10, of the country's 500 best startup employers.

To create the ranking, Statista looked at articles, blogs, and social media posts about each employer; employee reviews on job websites like Glassdoor and Indeed; and website traffic and employee headcounts for each startup over a two-year span.

The three Houston-area startups that are ranked are: Houston-based 2nd.MD (No. 280), Pearland-based Code Ninjas (No. 350), and Houston-based Onit (No. 463).

San Francisco-based footwear retailer Allbirds snags the No. 1 ranking on the Forbes list, and the Dallas-Fort Worth leads Texas metro areas for the most startups on the list with its 13 startup companies.

Ranked 25th, the highest in Texas, Fort Worth-based Koddi garners the top ranking among all Texas startups. The company provides marketing software for advertisers in the travel industry. In 2019, the Digiday Worklife Awards program named Koddi the tech company with the most collaborative culture.

"Koddi gives its employees the ability to shape the direction of their own careers and empowers them to succeed," Zachary Rector, associate director of account services, said in a 2017 release. "Every day at Koddi offers a unique challenge to overcome and the opportunity for personal growth. All of your coworkers are fully committed to one another's success and help each other learn. Koddi is a fast-paced, ever-changing, and engaging place to work."

Here are the 12 other Dallas-Fort Worth startups that appear in the Forbes ranking:

  • No. 50 — Bestow, Dallas
  • No. 59 — Veryable, Dallas
  • No. 118 — Sector 5 Digital, Fort Worth
  • No. 149 — Stryve Biltong, Plano
  • No. 231 — PestRoutes, McKinney
  • No. 265 — Titus Industrial, Dallas
  • No. 275 — Student Success Agency
  • No. 271 — Meritize, Frisco
  • No. 272 — Defi Solutions, Westlake
  • No. 305 — Crystal Clear Concepts, Grand Prairie
  • No. 325 — WellKept, Arlington
  • No. 411 — Tap Water Watch, Dallas

Meanwhile, Austin had a dozen startups on the list. At No. 87, Austin-based SchooX is the top-ranked startup in the Central Texas region. The company provides a workplace learning platform.

"Working at SchooX provides an awesome environment with great people that changes the way people learn," employee George Litos says on the company's website. "SchooX is shaping the future of e-learning, and I'm proud to be a part of it."

Here are the 11 other Austin-area companies that claim spots in the top 500:

  • No. 97 — Iris Telehealth, Austin
  • No. 201 — Jungle Scout, Austin
  • No. 226 — RigUp, Austin
  • No. 301 — TrustRadius, Austin
  • No. 315 — Shipwell, Austin
  • No. 399 — AlertMedia, Austin
  • No. 430 — Everlywell, Austin
  • No. 451 — Innovetive Petcare, Cedar Park
  • No. 457 — SubjectWell, Austin
  • No. 463 — ScaleFactor, Austin
  • No. 478 — Outdoorsy, Austin
------

This article originally ran on CultureMap.

From Houston inventors being recognized to Chevron's latest investment, here's what innovation news you need to know. Photo by Dwight C. Andrews/Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau

Chevron makes another investment, Houston researchers nationally recognized, and more innovation news

Short Stories

Houston's innovation news hasn't quite slowed yet for the holidays. This most recent news roundup includes lots of money raised, a new contract for a Houston startup, innovators recognized and more.

For more daily innovation news, subscribe to InnovationMap's newsletter, which goes out every weekday at 7 am.

Chevron Technology Ventures invests in Texas company

Courtesy of CTV

Houston-based Chevron Technology Ventures has contributed to Austin-based motor tech company Infinitum Electric's $12.5 million Series B round of financing. New Mexico-based Cottonwood Technology Fund and includes participation AJAX Strategies and other individual investors.

The company plans to use the funds to build out its research and development, engineering, supply chain, and production teams.

"Infinitum's mission aligns well with our goals for the Future Energy Fund," says Barbara Burger, president of CTV, in a release. "The purpose of the Future Energy Fund is to invest in breakthrough energy technologies that reflect Chevron's commitment to lower emission energy sources and that are integral to low-carbon and efficient value chains."

4 Houston researchers named fellows of the National Academy of Inventors

ideas

Getty Images

The National Academy of Inventors named 168 academic innovators to NAI Fellow status — and four conduct their research right here in Houston. The program "highlights academic inventors who have demonstrated a spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society," reads the news release.

The four Houston inventors and their institutions are as follows:

List ranks Houston's fastest growing companies

Chart via Grojo.com

Growjo named the 100 fastest-growing companies in Houston for 2019, and, while the study notes the city's large oil and gas and medical industries, also acknowledges its growing tech and software scene. The companies were selected by a myriad of factors.

"Our algorithm is based on multiple datasets including employee growth, estimated revenue growth, valuations, quality and quantity of funding, hiring announcements, current job openings, leadership team announcements, and numerous other growth triggers," reads the website.

The top five companies on the list are:

  1. Midcoast Energy, which has 183 employees and a 17 percent employee growth rate.
  2. ibüümerang, which has 528 employees, and a 633 percent employee growth rate.
  3. Arion, which has 136 employees and a 216 percent employee growth rate.
  4. GoExpedi, which as 59 employees and a 119 percent employee growth rate.
  5. Code Ninjas, which has 338 employees and a 63 percent employee growth rate.

For the full list, visit Growjo.com.

TMCx company wins awards 

Image via abilitechmedical.com

Abilitech Medical, which recently completed the TMCx program, has taken home some wins in Minnesota, where it's based. The company was named named among the state's topmed tech companies by the Minnesota High Tech Association at the 2019 TEKNE awards and 2019, as well as the grand prize winner and top woman-led business by the University of Minnesota's business school at its 2019 Minnesota Cup competition.

The medical device company's technology includes the Abilitech™ Assist, which assists patients with Multiple Sclerosis, rehabilitating from stoke, or other conditions with eating, drinking, and using a computer.

"We've met so many people whose lives will be changed with this innovation," says CEO and founder Angie Conley in a news release. "Through the Texas Medical Center accelerator, we met Dr. Hany Samir who championed our upcoming stroke study."

Samir is a cardiac anesthesiologist at Houston Methodist. He lost his ability to work and perform simple daily functions after a stroke debilitated his left arm.

"I'm unable to practice the medicine I love. I want to hold my wife again with two hands and enjoy dinner with her, without having her cut my food. I want to have a cup of coffee without asking for help," says Samir in the release. "Regaining function in my arm will restore my life."

Pandata Tech receives Department of Defense contract

Photo courtesy of Pandata Tech

Houston-based ​Pandata Tech secured a contract with the United States Department of Defense from the Rapid Sustainment Office of the the United States Air Force last month. The Phase II contract will allow the company to work with Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska to develop a scalable data quality platform.

The access to data will aid in natural disasters, per the release. The goal of the contract would be for a Phase III contract and an opportunity to scale the technology into other branches of military. The company also had a Phase I contract signed in August before securing the Phase II in November.

"Pandata Tech's proprietary DQM software was built during a development partnership with one of the world's largest offshore drilling companies. Because the technology was tested and built with offshore drilling data, the shift to aircraft carriers would be smooth," explains Gustavo Sanchez, co-founder of Pandata Tech, in a news release.

Houston company receives Department of Energy funding

Photo via aerominepower.com

The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory — with funding from the DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Wind Energy Technologies Office — selected a Houston company for its Competitiveness Improvement Project.

Westergaard Solutions, founded by Houstonian Carsten Westergaard, was named among the 2019 CIP Awardees. Among the company's assets is AeroMine, which competed in the most recent Houston cohort in MassChallenge Texas. The company "will implement an innovative building-integrated wind generation concept with no external moving parts, moving from a preliminary conceptual design to a pre-production prototype design that is ready for testing," according to the release.

Ad Placement 300x100
Ad Placement 300x600

CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Property Showcase

Rice University launches AI initiative, plans to hire 75 faculty

ai expansion

Houston’s Rice University announced a university-wide artificial intelligence initiative this week that includes hiring 75 new AI-focused faculty. It also shared new details about its planned state-of-the-art facility, The Arc.

Fresh off the announcement of Rice’s new Master of Artificial Intelligence (MAI) coming next fall, the university shared that it plans to expand its AI-related courses and be a “global leader in advanced computing and responsible AI.”

Rice reports that it has already hired 35 faculty members to deepen expertise across schools and departments regarding AI, and plans to recruit 40 more across disciplines including engineering, computing, health, energy, environmental resilience, business, humanities and the arts.

Rice's schools and departments have identified the four cluster areas to guide its hiring:

  • Foundational AI
  • AI for Health
  • AI for Energy, the Environment and Resiliency
  • Responsible AI: Society and Ethics

“Hiring exceptional faculty is essential, but it is only one part of the equation,” Amy Dittmar, Rice’s Howard R. Hughes Provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, said in a news release. “We are building the people, places and partnerships needed to advance AI from foundational discovery to societal impact.”

Another major component of the effort is the planned 200,000-square-foot facility, The Arc, which Rice announced will break ground this fall. Rice will occupy nearly 80,000 square feet of office and laboratory space dedicated to topics including AI, data science, robotics, computational engineering and energy. The university previously announced that The Arc would be completed in Q1 2028.

The Arc will also house the AI Foundry, which is being developed as a collaborative space for industry partners, scientists and students.

“As Rice grows, we are being intentional about where we invest and how we build,” Rice President Reginald DesRoches added in the release. “By bringing together exceptional faculty, a strong interdisciplinary research community, world-class facilities and Houston’s extraordinary innovation ecosystem, Rice has an opportunity not simply to participate in the AI revolution but to help define its future.”

5 minority-founded startups shaping the future of Houston innovation

meet the finalists

Houston’s startup ecosystem reflects the diversity of the city itself.

As part of the 2026 Houston Innovation Awards, our Minority-founded Businesses category will honor an innovative Houston startup founded or co-founded by BIPOC or LGBTQ+ representation.

Five minority-founded businesses have been named finalists for the 2026 award. The finalists, selected by our esteemed panel of judges, range from an AI edtech startup to a company operating in the floating offshore energy infrastructure sector.

Read more about these innovative businesses, their initiatives, and their inspirational founders below. The 2026 winners will be announced on InnovationMap.com in mid-November.

AI Made Fun

Edtech startup AI Made Fun is working to close the gap in AI education by teaching K-12 students how to understand and responsibly use artificial intelligence. The company has developed a comprehensive AI literacy curriculum with 60 modules, animated videos, interactive activities, teacher guides and family resources. Its curriculum covers how AI works, misinformation, algorithmic bias, data privacy, online safety and academic integrity.

AI Made Fun was founded in 2025 by Devshree Golecha. It launched in classrooms this school year with five licensed schools serving more than 800 students. The company is pursuing partnerships with Houston-area school districts, including Houston ISD and Alief ISD, and has pledged free and subsidized access for underserved communities.

Deep Anchor Solutions

Offshore energy consulting and design company Deep Anchor Solutions wants to help scale floating offshore energy infrastructure by removing anchoring as a barrier. Its deeply embedded ring anchor (DERA) technology can be installed quietly without heavy-lift vessels, reducing anchor-related costs by up to 75 percent and lifecycle CO2 emissions by up to 80 percent.

The company was founded in 2023 by CEO Junho Lee and technical advisor Charles Aubeny. Lee earned his Ph.D. in geotechnical engineering from Texas A&M University, where Aubeny is a professor of civil and environmental engineering. The company has participated in numerous accelerators and incubators, including Greentown Labs, MassChallenge, EnergyTechNexus LiftOff and others. Lee was an Activate 2025 fellow.

HEXAspec

Rice University spinout HEXASpec is working to improve the sustainability and thermal conductivity of semiconductor chips. The company has developed breakthrough inorganic fillers that allow graphic processing units (GPUs) to use less water and electricity and generate less heat.

HEXASpec was founded in 2025 by CEO Tianshu Zhai, CTO Jing Zhang and chief product officer Chen-Yang Lin. It has raised $800,000 in pre-seed funding and another $1.5 million in non-dilutive grants, according to the company's application. The startup won the Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship's H. Albert Napier Rice Launch Challenge in 2024 and the 2025 Energy Venture Day and Pitch Competition during CERAWeek in the TEX-E student track in 2025. It was awarded a $500,000 National Science Foundation Partnership for Innovation grant last summer.

Prana Surgical

Health tech company Prana Surgical is developing a minimally invasive surgical platform for small, hard-to-reach lung nodules that may be cancerous. The company's Prana System cleared U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval earlier this year.

Prana Surgical was originally founded as Prana Thoracic in 2022. It has participated in numerous accelerators, including the Texas Medical Center Innovation Accelerator in 2023 and the IGNITE Health accelerator in 2022. It raised $6 million in Series A funding rounds in 2023 and 2024 , with a Series B currently ongoing. The company said in its application that it is currently moving into the next stage of clinical validation and revenue generation in the U.S., in addition to preparing its manufacturing and commercial infrastructure for broader use.

Torres Orbital Mining Inc.

Space tech company Torres Orbital Mining is developing autonomous excavation and material preprocessing systems to move and process granular materials while reducing workers’ exposure to hazardous dust. The company is initially commercializing its technology for Earth-bound applications—including silica sand, recycled glass and mine tailings—though the technology is also designed to support future lunar mining operations. The company aims to accelerate a permanent and ethical human presence on the Moon.

CEO Luis Torres founded Torres Orbital Mining in 2025. The company is a member of Greentown Labs and has participated in accelerators like the ESRIC Space Resources Startup Program and Capital Factory All Access Fund. The company received a six-month, $225,000 SBIR Phase I contract from NASA in August.

Italian aerospace company sets up first U.S. office at Houston Spaceport

welcome to houston

Como, Italy-based aerospace company Involve Space recently made the Houston Spaceport the site of its first U.S. office.

Involve Space develops high-altitude balloon platforms for Earth observation, scientific research and hardware testing. The balloons carry instruments into the stratosphere (a layer of the upper atmosphere) to collect images and data, conduct experiments and test technology.

The company plans to launch its first commercial missions from Houston by the end of this year, according to a news release.

“Houston is the global center of aerospace, and our presence at Houston Spaceport strengthens our international growth trajectory,” Jonathan Polotto, founder and CEO of Involve Space, said in the release.

Founded in 2021, Involve Space incorporates aerospace hardware, AI and geospatial tools into its offerings. Its proprietary CLEAR platform uses conversational AI to help customers interpret data and support decision-making.

Located at Ellington Airport, the Houston Spaceport provides a base for Involve Space’s North American operations, including business development and partnerships with aerospace companies and researchers.

Other tenants at the Houston Spaceport include NASA, Axiom Space, Venus Aerospace and Intuitive Machines.

Involve Space’s relationship with the Houston Spaceport began in January 2025, when it conducted its first U.S. pilot launch. During the five-hour mission, the balloon reached an altitude of about 85,000 feet and traveled about 250 miles across Texas.

One of Involve Space’s first U.S. customers is Houston-based Rhodium Scientific, a space biotech company. Polotto and Rhodium Scientific founder and CEO Olivia Gamez Holzhaus signed a deal to conduct biotech experiments aboard Involve Space’s stratospheric balloon platforms before planned missions to orbit.

“The presence of innovative platforms like those developed by Involve strengthens the Spaceport’s role as a site for testing, validating, and deploying advanced technologies between aeronautics and space,” Jim Szczesniak, director of aviation for Houston Airports, added in the release.

View All Listings