Years ago, Raamel Mitchell and his brother Melerick paddled out on bodyboards off the coast of Costa Rica. Wave after wave rolled past them.
When his brother grumbled that they had not caught a thing, a lesson took root. Opportunities come in waves, and they do not wait.
Mitchell, a former Microsoft executive, says artificial intelligence is that kind of wave. Nearly half of Black adults (49%) use AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, the same share as U.S. adults overall, according to a Pew Research Center survey released in June. But using a chatbot is not the same as profiting from one. That distance is the AI opportunity gap.
He spent decades in tech before leaving Microsoft to co-found Gooru AI in 2025. The Addison-based startup lets people turn their expertise into Digital Goorus, AI versions of themselves that answer questions and mentor others.
“All these tools provide you an opportunity not just to be the consumer but to be a producer,” Mitchell said. “If we can start thinking about how we move from a consumer mindset to a producer mindset, all these tools provide a pathway to generate revenue, to generate income.”
Closing the gap also means paying attention to how AI judges people. Many employers use software to sort resumes before anyone reads them, and Mitchell said job seekers have complained that it screens out candidates based on age, ZIP code, race, or gender.
“The power of our voice should also be incorporated into the policies that are going to take place,” Mitchell said. “I think being very vocal in this space is important.”
Knowledge, not access, is the barrier
Desmond Okpei, chief of marketing at Drive Docket, believes the gap facing entrepreneurs is rooted in confidence rather than ability. His company utilizes AI to automate license and registration renewals, and he offers guidance to new entrepreneurs.
“I wouldn’t say we’re behind,” Okpei said. “We have opportunities to gain.”
Black Americans have long been marginalized in access to education, including technology, and many now hold back out of a lack of knowledge and fear.
Okpei compares AI to a library that never closes, one that can help a small business owner draft a flyer, organize bank records, or outline a first business plan.
“Don’t wait. The opportunity is now.”
Raamel Mitchell, co-founder and CEO, Gooru AI
“As a people, we need to be audacious,” Okpei said. “Great leaders and great achievements didn’t come from a lack of courage.”
Rojaun Samuda, a senior AI technical product manager, uses AI to keep pace with his fast-moving field. A devoted NBA fan, he has AI assistants explain new technology to him as if it were a basketball game, a habit he picked up from online videos and peers.
He agrees the tools themselves are within reach.
“The access is there. Everybody can go to ChatGPT,” Samuda said. “You can create an account with Claude, Google Gemini, things of that nature, and then you have a Ph.D. professor at your fingertips.”
What is missing, he said, is exposure to how AI can help at home and at work.
“What we need to do is educate one another, commune, talk, share ideas, share experiences,” Samuda said. “And then we won’t be left behind.”
