Esri Young Professionals Network Blog

Starting out in GIS means learning fast, solving problems, and proving your skills, but hitting a roadblock can stall your momentum. The Esri Support AI Chatbot gives young professionals instant, reliable answers sourced from verified Esri content, so you can spend less time searching and more time building your expertise. Available 24/7 in over 40 languages, it’s your always-ready partner for error messages, workflow questions, and quick fixes, helping you solve smarter and grow faster in your GIS career.

Hear from John Nelson as he shares his career in cartography, user experience design, and education.

It’s time to showcase your GeoAI skills by entering the 2025 Annual GeoChallenge co-hosted by The American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) and Esri.

This year’s theme is centered around GeoAI inviting you to showcase your skills and innovation by developing an application or use case using Esri GeoAI tools.

Are you up for the challenge? Keep reading to learn more about the challenge, key dates, prizes, resources to set you up for success, and getting started.

Often people think “Senior” and think seasoned, so when people meet me, the question I usually get asked from students and professionals is “How did you get to the place you are now?”.

And oh, my goodness, I love this question. Read more about my journey in finding my passion. 

GeoAI—the integration of Artificial Intelligence and GIS—is rapidly becoming one of the most important skillsets in the geospatial industry. From automating land cover classification to predicting disasters and improving agriculture, GeoAI is transforming how we solve complex challenges. For young professionals, embracing GeoAI is not just about keeping up with technology—it’s about preparing for meaningful careers at the intersection of data, innovation, and impact. In this blog, I share why learning GeoAI matters, the resources that helped me along the way, and how you can get started on your own GeoAI journey.

Discover tips and tricks for how to start (and finish!) projects both on and off the job. I'm an Esri Press book designer, and I'll show you how I learned accessible ebook production, taught myself Python automation, handcrafted a fantastical grimoire, and coded interactive data visualizations.

Are you looking for ways to grow your skills and learn new tools this fall? Esri Academy has 3 amazing no-cost massive open online courses (MOOCs)! Read this blog to learn about those MOOCs and how they can help you expand your horizons.

I started as a Student Assistant at the 2025 Esri Energy Resources GIS Conference, and now I've come full circle at UC 2025 as both a Student Assistant and YPN Ambassador. Here's what it meant to reconnect, give back, and grow.

The second half of my internship at Esri was filled with challenges that tested my technical and personal growth, as well as opportunities to build lasting relationships and gain confidence. From meaningful presentations to an inspiring Hackathon, each experience gave me the chance to stretch beyond my comfort zone and discover how much impact is possible when you combine purpose with technology.

Navigating a GIS career can be an inspiring journey. This article shares a personal story of how a passion for location intelligence, sparked in University of Lagos (Nigeria) led to a global impact in the geospatial community.