Enterprise Cayman’s inaugural Cayman Islands Tech Futures Week launched on Monday with a VIP reception that was followed by a series of tech-focused events taking place across Grand Cayman through Saturday 11 Oct.
Tech Futures Week comes at a critical juncture, as the government and private companies explore how the jurisdiction can thrive amid the AI-powered disruption set to hit key industries such as finance and law.
The tech sector has long been seen as a logical way for Cayman to diversify its knowledge economy. It’s a capital-rich sector that can deliver the same level of economic growth and high-level jobs as Cayman’s existing powerhouses of finance, reinsurance and law.
And just like those sectors, it plays to the islands’ strengths as an international hub and won’t be limited by the jurisdiction’s lack of size or natural resources.
That’s why Cayman Enterprise City (CEC) was founded in 2012 to attract international tech firms. CEC is a ‘free zone’ that is home to three special economic zones that offer certain advantages – such as 100% investor ownership, import duty exemption and facilitation of work permits.
If you build it, they will come
More than a decade later, the CEC now houses more than 450 companies. “To see the growth of the tech community on the island is extraordinary,” said Premier André Ebanks, who is also minister for financial services and commerce.
Speaking at the launch of Tech Futures Week, on 6 Oct., Ebanks outlined an optimistic future for tech in Cayman, “there is no reason we cannot be a regional centre of excellence in tech.”
Cristina Spratt, the former country manager for Flow who founded Tidal Edge Consulting, is optimistic about Cayman’s tech potential.
“We’re small and nimble enough to quickly adjust and transform to the realities and needs of tech companies coming,” she said.
Spratt, who was one of the keynote speakers at Tech Futures Week, believes Cayman’s track record in finance can help it succeed in tech.
“Cayman is definitely a centre of excellence, she said. It’s proven again and again, that every time it decided to focus on a sector, it can excel.”
“I’ve set up two successful businesses in Cayman Enterprise City and it definitely has a compelling value proposition,” said Darren Jack, CEO and founder of AssetFynd. “I was originally based in Canada and could have picked any international jurisdiction but being in Cayman was the best option for a fintech.
AssetFynd is an AI-powered platform that allows companies, governments and charities to recover unclaimed financial assets. It was created after Jack sold his first CEC-based company. “In Cayman you have world-class legal and finance expertise,” said Jack. “You also have sophisticated corporate structures and an ecosystem of professional service firms.” As a result, many of the tech firms based in the CEC are focused on fintech or digital assets.
CEC challenges
Yet despite the success, the CEC is not without its critics. Some have questioned why it receives work permit advantages, given that immigration is such a controversial topic in the islands. And others have questioned if all the companies in the CEC are the new tech arrivals it was created to attract, or if they are firms that were already in the islands and have just moved some of their international business departments inside the zone to take advantages of the benefits on offer.
Jack, who is a staunch defender of the CEC, concedes that there are still some hurdles to overcome. “The local banking sector doesn’t really understand the needs of the companies based inside the CEC and can be hesitant to offer banking services to them.”
Another potential challenge is the political pressure to hire local talent. Michael Myles, the minister for Caymanian employment and immigration, also spoke at the Tech Futures Week launch. “My goal in the ministry has been simple: we have to ensure that every child or young person or Caymanian who wants a job in our country gets that job. How do we reduce reliance on import labour? How do we promote our people? These are fundamental things that we can’t do alone or in a silo.”
Ebanks also acknowledged the challenge of integrating local workers into international tech companies based in the CEC. “We have to get a few things right and make decisions firmly based on data when it comes to education, immigration and other policies.”
Getting Caymanians into the city
Tech Futures Week, which is organised by Enterprise Cayman, the non-profit arm of CEC, is boosting direct engagement between the companies in the zone and the people who live outside it. And there are early signs that locals are getting jobs in the CEC.
In 2024, 24% of employees working for companies in the zone were Caymanian or permanent residents, up from 12% in 2020. That matters because the latest Cayman Enterprise City Socio-Economic Impact Assessment showed that in 2023, average salaries in the zone overtook ‘professional and scientific activities’ (which includes finance) as Cayman’s best-paid industry.
But this is about more than economic data, it also offers a way for young Caymanians to build a future on the islands. One example is Michael Boucher, who has found a job with zone company, East Coast Asset Management.
“When I left the islands 10 years ago to pursue an engineering degree, I wasn’t sure that there would be a place for me to come back to,” said Boucher. “I was studying technology and obviously most of the good jobs here are financial services or law. But I’ve been keeping an eye on developments at Cayman Enterprise City and eventually I realised I could change my plans and come back.”
Private and public sector players might disagree about the best way to develop the jurisdiction’s tech scene. But everyone on island will hope that stories like Boucher’s become more common in Cayman.
Compass video journalist Mark Westin contributed to this story.
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