Those companies provided $40 million in seed money over a five-year period to explore ways for meeting common challenges related to AI, automation and cyber security at a fraction of the cost and time of developing solutions individually. “Our organization is an excellent example of what can happen when companies work together,” says Blanquera, whose company, Covail (formerly the Columbus Collaboratory) born from the aspiration of several large companies, including Battelle, Cardinal Health, Huntington Bank, L Brands, Nationwide Insurance, American Electric Power and OhioHealth. Blanquera also believes that the diversity of industries in both regions is advantageous to their long-term futures. Those attributes include having universities and colleges that generate ideas for businesses and educate skilled workers to run those companies. He points to the similarity of both regions’ assets being conducive to collaboration.

“Columbus and Pittsburgh have many things in common, which makes partnerships between companies in the two regions attractive,” says Ben Blanquera, Vice President of Client Success and Experience with Covail, a technology firm that provides large organizations with enterprise level solutions and products related to artificial intelligence (AI), automation and cyber security. The Tech Council has begun to facilitate many of those interactions through workshops, seminars and other kinds of programming. Over the past year, members of the tech communities in Columbus and Pittsburgh have demonstrated an interest in working with each other. That’s because the Midwest/Northeast cultural divide, sports rivalries and old jokes rooted in perceptions rather than facts have stood in the way of cooperation.įortunately, times are changing. When it comes to collaboration between companies and organizations in Ohio and Pennsylvania, things haven’t always gone as planned.

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