Antonio Delgado Fornaguera

Antonio Delgado Fornaguera is passionate about expanding access to educational opportunities that drive economic mobility. As Founder of the National Applied AI Consortium (NAAIC) and Vice President of Innovation and Technology Partnerships at Miami Dade College (MDC), he leads national-scale strategies that connect students and working learners to high-wage employment in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and cybersecurity, and emerging technologies. Central to Antonio’s professional journey is his focus on building and leading public-private coalitions aimed at advancing economic mobility through education in emerging technologies. As the founder of NAAIC, a National Science Foundation-funded initiative, he has positioned community colleges as key players in America’s applied workforce strategy. Antonio developed a train-the-trainer model in collaboration with leading technology companies, which has provided more than 2,000 faculty members with practical competencies in artificial intelligence. Within one year of its inception, NAAIC has supported over 350 colleges across 49 states and U.S. territories, impacting more than 50,000 students nationwide.Antonio was also responsible for securing a $10 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to launch Miami Tech Works, an initiative focused on linking local talent with employers seeking tech professionals. Through this program, Antonio aligned all local academic institutions in Miami to work with over 250 companies, resulting in the training of 5,000 individuals and a remarkable 40% placement rate in just over three years.Under Antonio’s leadership, MDC became one of the first institutions in the nation to offer both associate and bachelor’s degrees in applied Artificial Intelligence. He also oversees the responsible integration of AI technologies into college operations and academic programs. Over his 10 years at MDC, Antonio has fostered strong collaborations with technology’s biggest players including Intel, Amazon, OpenAI, Tesla, IBM, Microsoft, Apple, Meta and Google; and launched Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence, Data Analytics and Electric Vehicle centers and programs at MDC. Furthermore, Antonio has secured over $60 million in prestigious grants and external resources from private and public institutions like Knight Foundation, National Security Agency, National Science Foundation, Economic Development Administration, Mozilla, Apple, Microsoft and Google.org, among others.With more than 20 years of experience in management and technology consulting across the United States, Europe, Central America, and the Caribbean, including country manager at one of Latin America’s leading technology marketplaces for real estate, Antonio currently serves as a Fellow for New America’s Future of Work and Innovation Economy initiative. He has a Master of Science in Computer Networks from the University of Westminster, in London, UK, and a Bachelor of Science in Telecommunications and Electronics Engineering from the Universidad Tecnológica de La Habana in Cuba.