Ashutosh P.

📊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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Initially, the H-1B proclamation came as a shocker. Now it’s an advantage for existing H-1B holders, particularly for product managers and director-level candidates. The U.S. will now charge $100k per new H-1B visa, and the supply of international talent is expected to drop. But the demand for experienced product managers will not. Companies still need leaders who can drive strategy, scale products, and align teams. And when they look around, the most “ready-to-hire” candidates are the ones already here on valid H-1Bs. (That's you) That scarcity is shifting the market. I’ve seen my product manager-level clients: - Command 30–40% higher compensation packages - Land interviews at companies that previously passed on them - Get promoted or hired directly into leadership tracks (even skipping levels) But none of this happens automatically. Just because the market is tilted in your favor doesn’t mean a company will hand you the role or the raise. You have to show them you’re worth the premium. And that requires a shift in how you operate. You need to: - Position yourself as the person who sets strategy, not just executes it - Step out of your immediate team and make your impact visible across the org - Walk into interviews already acting like the leader they want to hire For many of my clients, these shifts have been the difference between plateauing at “senior Product Manager” and landing $300K–$900K+ leadership roles, even in a so-called bad market. If you’re a product manager on an H-1B, this is your window to land your next-level role with a raise. -> Share this with someone who's an H-1B and feeling stuck. -> Follow me for actionable advice and take your career to the next level with $300k-$900k+ leadership roles.

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H-1B visa fees jump to $100,000—SaaS & AI startups across India and the US are forced to overhaul hiring, fortifying local hubs and reshaping the global talent race. Full ISR story: https://lnkd.in/ecz_J_4e #H1B #AI #SaaS #TechHiring #IndianStartups #ISRNews

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The Big Shift — H-1B Just Got Expensive 🚨 Big news for tech & IT: The U.S. has hiked H-1B visa costs sharply. For Indian IT, this isn’t just policy — it’s a business model earthquake. Here’s why: Indian IT exports cross $190B+ a year, with a large share tied to U.S. projects. H-1B mobility is core to onshore delivery — now that cost just shot up. U.S. firms will also feel it — higher costs, tighter timelines, and bigger talent gaps. This could be the moment that forces Indian IT to pivot — from body-shopping to product engineering, AI, and remote-first delivery. 💭 What do you think — is this an opportunity in disguise or a short-term growth shock?

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Over the years, I have interviewed over 1000+ candidates across various levels as a Hiring Manager and Bar Raiser at Amazon, and more recently while scaling teams at eBay Bengaluru. Additionally, I have participated in numerous promotion discussions (100+) for my org, giving promo feedbacks and in approving cases across my teams and others. One clear observation from talent decisions at this scale is the emergence of repeating patterns that cannot be ignored. The individuals who consistently stand out in interviews and promotions exhibit three key traits: - Clarity of thought: They define the problem well before jumping to solutions. - Structured articulation: Their thinking is organized, encompassing context, trade-offs, decisions, and outcomes. - First-principles reasoning: They do not rely solely on playbooks or past patterns; instead, they break problems down and reason from fundamentals. I have come to realize that interviews and promotion reviews are rarely about what you know; they reveal how you think. Within organizations, unclear thinking compounds, while clear thinking scales. The leaders who consistently drive organizational growth are those who bring clarity in ambiguous situations. #Leadership #Hiring #EngineeringLeadership #CareerGrowth #FirstPrinciples

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✈️ US H-1B Visa Update: The $100,000 Sponsorship Fee 💰 There’s a major update to the H-1B program that could impact many professionals and employers. Starting September 21, 2025, companies that want to sponsor new H-1B workers from abroad will need to pay a $100,000 fee per petition. 📅 This change will be in place for 12 months (until September 20, 2026) unless extended. ✅ It applies only to new petitions filed after the effective date. ❌ It does not apply to current H-1B holders already in the U.S., to renewals or extensions, or to petitions filed before September 21. What does this mean in practice? 🤔 Employers may become more selective in offering sponsorships, especially smaller companies that may find the cost challenging. Candidates outside the U.S. who are waiting for H-1B approval or consular processing could be directly affected. This rule may increase the focus on highly skilled and highly paid positions, as organizations weigh the value of sponsorship. For professionals, the key steps are: 👉 Confirm with your employer whether your petition is being filed before the deadline. 👉 Clarify who will cover the cost if it applies. 👉 Stay updated through official USCIS and DHS announcements. 👉 Always keep backup options in mind. 🌍 Visa journeys are never simple. They test resilience, patience, and adaptability. But staying informed gives you the power to plan better and make smarter decisions. If you or someone you know is impacted by this change, share your thoughts below. Let’s support each other through these updates. 💬 #H1B #Immigration #VisaUpdates #CareerPlanning #Resilience

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So Trump just changed the H1B visa rules, and everyone's talking about how bad this is for India. I have a very different point of view. Let me break this down in simple terms. The new H1B policy now requires a minimum salary of $100,000 for visa applicants, which is a massive jump from the previous requirements. They've also made the process stricter and reduced the number of visas available. What this means is that thousands of Indian IT professionals who were planning to work in the US will now have to stay back in India, simply because most entry and mid-level positions don't pay that much. With this new rule, only senior developers and specialized roles will qualify, which cuts out a huge chunk of the traditional H1B pipeline. This is going to completely change how students plan their education. Why would someone spend ₹50-80 lakhs on an MS in the US if there's no clear path to stay and work there? The whole appeal of studying abroad was the job prospects afterward. Without that, a lot of students are going to think twice about taking those massive education loans. This means Indian B-schools and premium colleges are about to see a surge in applications like Masters' Union, Mesa School of Business. The talent pool that was getting distributed globally is now going to be concentrated right here in India. This will hit companies like Infosys, TCS, and Wipro pretty hard. Their whole business model relies on sending people to work on-site with US clients, and most of these roles were below the $100K mark. With this new salary floor, their revenue from the US market will definitely take a hit. Those engineering graduates who were dreaming of landing that first job in Silicon Valley have to settle for those ₹15-25 lakh packages. The D2C Rise - All these high-earning professionals who would have packed their bags for America are now staying in India. We're talking about people with serious disposable income, people who shop at premium brands, eat at fancy restaurants, and don't mind spending on quality products and services. You suddenly have thousands of additional consumers with ₹20+ lakh salaries who were supposed to leave the country but are now staying back. These are people with international exposure and refined tastes, exactly the kind of customers that premium Indian brands have been trying to reach. The startup ecosystem is going to benefit massively too. Instead of our best engineers going to code for Google or Microsoft in the US, they're going to stick around and maybe start their own companies or join Indian startups like Urban Company Zomato. This could be the talent injection that takes our startup scene to the next level. I just tried to see this crisis from an opportunity point of view. I would love to get roasted if i was wrong. I would love to hear more logical point to lean But what else do you think will happen?

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Regulatory uncertainty surrounding the H-1B visa program is creating a significant talent crunch for U.S. companies, particularly for Indian-led AI startups. According to a recent Linkedin News report, the current climate is causing H-1B holders to hesitate leaving stable Big Tech jobs for startups, fearing instability. This is even affecting lateral hires, who are reportedly backing out of offers. In response, startups are adapting their hiring strategies: 🔹 Prioritizing recruitment of U.S. citizens, green card holders, and F-1 student visa holders. 🔹 Shifting to a bifurcated model: hiring go-to-market roles in the U.S. while sourcing tech talent directly from India. A key point of clarification from USCIS on the new $100,000 H-1B fee: ✅ Applies to: Only new H-1B petitions for workers currently outside the U.S. who do not have a valid visa. ❌ Does NOT apply to: Status changes (e.g., F-1 to H-1B), amendments, or extensions for individuals already within the U.S. This distinction may benefit Indian students currently in the U.S. on F-1 visas, as they are exempt from this fee. Overall, these policy shifts are reshaping how U.S. companies approach international hiring and visa sponsorship. #H1B #USTech #Startups #TalentAcquisition #Immigration #HiringTrends #AI #India

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