Sathyanarayan Venkateswaran

🚨 U.S. announces $100,000 annual fee on H-1B visas This move will directly impact India, as we account for the majority of H-1B holders: 📌 71% of H-1B visas are held by Indians (~207,000 approvals in FY2023) 📌 Median wage for new H-1B holders is $97,000 – the new fee is actually higher than many annual salaries 📌 U.S. employers, especially in tech, will face huge costs, meaning fewer job offers and renewals 📌 Indian IT & tech firms, which depend heavily on H-1B mobility, will feel the pressure 💡 Context: India’s IT services exports are valued at $245+ billion (FY2024), with the U.S. as the largest market. Any disruption in talent mobility risks impacting both professionals and India’s largest export industry. 🌍 What this means: Skilled Indians may increasingly explore Canada, Europe & other talent-hungry markets More professionals could also choose to stay in India, fueling growth in our domestic tech ecosystem Global talent flows and U.S.–India collaboration are at stake 👉 India’s response must be strategic: ✔ Strengthen domestic opportunities ✔ Negotiate fairer mobility agreements ✔ Accelerate programs like Startup India, Digital India & skilling initiatives 🔹 While this is a challenge, it could also be a turning point for India to position itself as a global talent hub, creating opportunities at home rather than losing them abroad. https://lnkd.in/dbskHHPH

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🌍 Important Update for H-1B Professionals ✈️📑 Amazon — which employs 14K+ H-1B staff, along with Google and Microsoft, has advised H-1B visa holders to return to the U.S. before September 21 and to avoid international travel until further notice. 🛑 This advisory underscores the sensitive landscape of global mobility, immigration, and workforce planning in today’s tech industry. Companies and employees alike must stay vigilant as policies evolve. 🔒🤝 #H1B #Immigration #TechIndustry #Amazon #Google #Microsoft #Workforce #GlobalMobility #Innovation #BusinessNews #CloudComputing #DevOps #AzureCloud #DigitalTransformation #TechInnovation #CloudSolutions #DevOpsCulture #AzureDevOps #TechLeadership #InfrastructureAsCode #Automation #AzurePipelines #CloudSecurity #DevOpsBestPractices #TechTrends #AgileDevOps #AzureSolutions #ContinuousDelivery #CloudDevelopment #ITLeadership #USA #USATrending #AmericanCreators #LinkedInTech #LinkedInNews

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📊With the recent news on H1B visas, many of us might have seen a bar chart putting Amazon at the top for “most H1B visas.” It made me pause. We are given some incredible power by access to AI. But what is that power worth if we don’t ask the right questions? If we don’t question the data? 𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐀 𝐅𝐋𝐔𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐘 + 𝐀𝐈 𝐅𝐋𝐔𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐘 = 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐄𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 Because AI can reframe, recalc, and visualize data in seconds. But without data fluency, we don’t know what to ask. So back to the H-1B visa example: • The chart said Amazon uses the most. • With AI, I asked: “per 1,000 employees?” • Suddenly Meta hops above, Amazon tumbles, and Walmart basically disappears. 💡 Being data fluent means we are critical, we know when a headline misleads. Pairing that with being AI fluent means we can use AI to test, flip, and sharpen our thinking and tell the story. We move from taking data, charts, text, or visuals at face value and we begin to see through it. 👉 Swipe my carousel Data Fluency X AI Fluency and try it yourself: What denominator would you test next? #FutureFluent #DataFluency #AIFluency #CriticalThinking

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Amazon is offering substantial salaries, up to $263,700, to foreign hires for software engineering and other roles under O-1 and H-1B visas. https://lnkd.in/g4cyjH_2

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Ex-Meta manager says Stanford and MIT CS grads struggling to get jobs due to AI, shares top skills to get hired - India Today https://lnkd.in/gJDZqGw5 #artificial #intelligence #digital #transformation We are living through another revolution. This time, it's down to artificial intelligence. It is already changing the society we live in and is expected to reshape how we work, do business and interact with technology, eventually transforming both the economy and wider society. But right now, the most immediate impact led by AI is being felt in the job market, even bringing challenges for the highly educated. In fact, according to a former Meta executive, students from elite institutions such as Stanford and MIT are currently struggling to secure job roles, as companies are rethinking hiring strategies.

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Sovereign AI models were one of the most discussed themes at the recent AI Summit held in Delhi. The core idea is simple but powerful: countries and enterprises want AI systems that are trained, deployed, and governed within their own boundaries — aligned with local languages, regulations, data privacy norms, and cultural context. As highlighted by , the next wave of AI innovation will be driven by models built for local ecosystems — especially Indian languages, public-sector use cases, and enterprise-sensitive workloads. I am keen to explore Sarvam AI APIs to test and build use cases around local language capabilities. Key takeaways: • Data sovereignty is becoming as important as model performance • Governments are investing in national AI infrastructure and compute • Local language models and public-sector applications are accelerating • Enterprises are exploring “sovereign AI stacks” for sensitive workloads Sovereign AI is not about isolation — it’s about control, trust, and strategic independence in an AI-first world.

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The March 2026 Visa Bulletin is out… and yes, you’re seeing it right. Rest of World countries are CURRENT for EB-1 and EB-2. And it gets better 👇 USCIS has confirmed that for March, all employment-based categories must use the Dates for Filing (Table B) chart. That’s huge. This opens the door for many professionals who’ve been waiting to finally move forward with Adjustment of Status. March could be a big month. If you’re EB-2 NIW or EB-1 ROW, now is the time to review your filing strategy. 🚀 Complete video: https://lnkd.in/ekNcNZMp #VisaBulletin #USAVISA #NIW #EB2 #EB1A

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USCIS TN Visa Requirements for Engineers. Pay attention, IT Engineers! USCIS has released updated guidance on who qualifies as an “Engineer” under the TN visa category. Many tech-related roles, especially in software and IT, may no longer meet the criteria. "An engineer may not fill computer-related jobs unless he or she has credentials as a computer or software engineer in a bona fide engineering specialty offering full engineering credentials, such as professional engineering licenses." To qualify under the Engineer category, an applicant must have either: > A bachelor’s or licenciatura degree in engineering, or > A state or provincial license as a professional engineer. Here is a test to evaluate eligibility: 1) The degree must be in a related engineering field 2) The Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) or similar sources are used to confirm suitability 3) The actual job duties must align with engineering tasks, not general tech support or development work. #TNVisa #TNStatus #USImmigration #Canadian #Mexican #ImmigrationLaw #USCIS #CBP #Engineer #ITEngineer #SoftwareEngineer

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United States Imposes H-1B Visa Fee Timeline: A Blow to Indian Tech Talent and Global Trade, Warns FICCI Via Alexa News Nigeria (Alexa.ng) #News #PopularNews #ViralNews #TrendingNews #FeaturedNews #Trending   In a move that has sent ripples through the corridors of global business and immigration policy, the United States government has unveiled a stringent new timeline for H-1B visa fees, targeting skilled workers from countries like India, which dominates the program's applicant pool. Announced on September 20, 2025, this policy shift mandates that employers pay an escalated fee structure within a rigid 90-day window from the date of visa approval, with penalties for non-compliance including visa revocations and potential bans on future applications. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), India's premier trade body, has labeled the decision "concerning," arguing that it could exacerbate talent shortages in the US tech sector while straining bilateral trade ties between the world's largest economies. This development comes at a precarious juncture for US-India relations, already navigating the choppy waters of post-pandemic economic recovery, escalating geopolitical tensions, and a fiercely protectionist stance from the Biden-Harris administration's immigration reforms. For Indian professionals— who accounted for over 72% of H-1B approvals in fiscal year 2024— the policy represents not just a financial hurdle but a symbolic barrier to the American Dream. FICCI's statement, issued mere hours after the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) press release, underscores the urgency: "This arbitrary timeline risks disrupting supply chains, stifling innovation, and undermining the mutual benefits of the US-India knowledge partnership." To fully grasp the implications, one must delve into the labyrinthine history of the H-1B program, a cornerstone of America's ability to attract global talent since its inception in 1990 under the Immigration Act. Designed for "specialty occupations" requiring at least a bachelor's degree, the program caps at 85,000 visas annually (65,000 general plus 20,000 for advanced-degree holders), fueling giants like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon with engineers, data scientists, and IT specialists. India's IT behemoths— Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, and Wipro— have long relied on it to staff US operations, contributing billions to the economy while repatriating expertise to bolster India's own digital ambitions. Yet, the program's evolution has been marred by controversy. Critics, including labor unions and nativist groups, decry it as a tool for wage suppression and job displacement for American workers. Proponents, however, hail it as indispensable for maintaining US competitiveness in AI, cybersecurity, and semiconductors— fields where domestic talent pools fall short. The 2025 fee timeline is the latest salvo in this ideological skirmish, ostensibly...