Our Methodology
Every listing in the directory is checked against the same published rules. Here they are, in full.
Geography
HQ or a staffed operating site in the St. Louis MO-IL metro area, including St. Charles County and Metro East Illinois. For infrastructure, a permitted or proposed project site counts.
AI test
AI or machine learning is core to the product. Larger firms need a named AI product, platform or practice with public evidence. For early-stage companies, an Arch Grants AI/ML classification counts as evidence.
Activity test
Public evidence of operation in 2025 or 2026. Companies that were acquired, shut down or relocated out of the metro are excluded.
Exclusions
Household-name enterprises. Services firms and nonprofits are listed when AI is a named practice or program with a public source.
How listings are ordered
The directory is alphabetical. Featured and sponsored placements, when they exist, are labeled and never change order.
Confidence
High means multiple or primary sources confirm location, AI role and recent activity. Medium means one credible source for each, or one element dated or caveated. Only Medium and High are listed. The AI-native badge is shown on any listing where AI is the core product, independent of type.
How we classify listings
Every listing gets one primary type. A listing can also carry up to 2 secondary types, up to 3 focus areas, up to 3 industries (or Cross-industry), up to 2 business functions, and for AI services up to 3 service types.
Types
- AI products
- Sells AI software, hardware or AI-made products.
- AI services
- People-delivered AI work, such as strategy, implementation, data, governance, training and integration.
- Infrastructure
- Data centers, compute and connectivity.
- Research and education
- Universities, labs, and training and placement programs.
- Ecosystem
- Investors, grants, accelerators, innovation centers and community groups.
- Enterprise and government AI
- Employers and public agencies with a named local AI program or a visible local AI team.
Focus areas
- Generative AI
- Creates text, images, code or other content.
- AI Agents
- Takes actions or runs workflows on its own, such as support, outreach or scheduling.
- Analytics & Prediction
- Dashboards, insights, forecasting, risk scoring, fraud detection and optimization.
- Data
- Data engineering, pipelines, platforms and labeling.
- Computer Vision
- AI that reads images or video: inspection, imagery, 3D scanning.
- AI Development
- Custom AI builds, integration and machine learning engineering.
- Geospatial & GeoAI
- Mapping, satellite and aerial imagery, GIS and location intelligence.
- Robotics
- Robots, drones and autonomous vehicles that act in the physical world.
- Life Sciences
- AI for drug discovery, biology, plant science and lab research.
- Governance & Security
- AI policy, controls, monitoring, compliance and security of AI systems.
- Data Centers
- Data centers, GPUs, colocation and AI compute capacity.
- Consulting & Strategy
- AI roadmaps, readiness assessments, CoE design and vendor selection.
- Talent & Workforce
- AI training, degrees and certificates, workforce programs and hiring pipelines.
Industries
Government, Aerospace & Defense · Healthcare · Education · Agriculture · Energy & Utilities · Construction & Real Estate · Logistics & Transportation · Automotive & Mobility · Financial Services & Insurance · Manufacturing & Industrial · Retail & Consumer · Media & Telecom · Nonprofit & Civic
Stage and status
- Emerging
- AI-core, St. Louis based, below the growth bar.
- Growth
- $1M+ institutional funding, public evidence of paying customers or revenue, or Series A or later.
- Established
- Public company, 1,000+ employees, or a national firm's staffed St. Louis site.
- Operating (infrastructure)
- The facility is running today.
- Under construction (infrastructure)
- Permitted and being built.
- Planned (infrastructure)
- Proposed or announced, not yet permitted or built.
Two more labels
- AI-native
- AI is the core of what they sell.
- St. Louis HQ
- Headquartered in the St. Louis metro, versus a local office of a national firm.
Inclusion rule
AI is core, or a named AI product, program or practice, with a public first-party or press source.
What we do not do
- No pay-to-rank. Position in the directory is never for sale.
- Sponsored placements are always labeled as Sponsored.
- The operator gets no preferential placement.
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