From H1B to CEO: Inspiring Indian Leaders Who Made It Big in the US
Did you know that some of the world’s biggest tech giants, such as Microsoft and Google, started their companies on H1B visas in USA. These techie giants that shape today’s digital life are led by Indian-origin leaders who once arrived in US on H‑1B visas. They did not just climb the ladder but built the entire staircase, dominating 2025 as the biggest tech companies in the world. Individuals such as Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai, and Aravind Srinivas are examples of how H1B visas are very crucial for innovation. In this article, let us check how these Indian-origin innovators rewrote the American Dream and why 2025 may be the most critical year for future tech talent from India in USA.
This Story also Contains
- Indian Origin CEOs Who Started on H1B Visa: Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai, Aravind Srinivas
- List Of Tech Giants Started Their Companies on H1B Visa in USA
- H‑1B Visa Fee Hiked to $100,000: Reduced H1B Opportunities for Indian Students
- US Companies With H1B Sponsorship Numbers in 2025
- Is the American Dream Dying or Rising for Indian Students?
Related Reads:
Indian Origin CEOs Who Started on H1B Visa: Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai, Aravind Srinivas
CEOs of Microsoft, Google, and other tech giants started their companies on H1B visas. Now they are at the top of their fields. Aravind Srinivas is another example of a rising techie for AI innovation, and he started his US journey on an H1B visa. Here is the story of these techie giants:
Satya Nadella
Satya Nadella, the current CEO of Microsoft, entered the US in the 1990s on an H1-B visa. The current market value is around $3.822 trillion as of October 2025, making it the world's second-most valuable company. If he had not got the chance to start his business idea due to H1B rejection, today, we would not have had the innovation brought up by Microsoft.
Sundar Pichai
Sundar Pichai, the current CEO of Google and Alphabet, is one of the other individuals on H1B visa who created a revolution in the technological field. On an H1B visa, he started as a product manager at Google in 2004 and became the CEO of Google in 2015. Currently, he manages a company that powers over 90% of the world’s internet searches.
Aravind Srinivas
Aravind Srinivas, the CEO of Perplexity AI, is among the rising stars of generative AI in 2025. He started working in US on H1B visa after he graduated with a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley.
Sridhar Vembu
Sridhar Vembu, the current CEO of Zoho Corporation, founded AdventNet (later Zoho) in New Jersey in 1996. He completed his PhD from Princeton University and then worked on H1B visa for Qualcomm. Later, he started his own company with his brothers. Started his journey from H1B visa in USA, now his company, Zoho, is a global software provider worth billions of dollars.
Arvind Krishna
Krishna, the current Chairman and CEO of IBM started his career journey on H1B visa. After completing PhD in electrical engineering from IIT Kanpur, India, he moved to US to work at IBM. He got promoted over the years and now manages one of the world's largest technology companies.
List Of Tech Giants Started Their Companies on H1B Visa in USA
As we have already discussed, the top 5 companies whose CEO came from India to US on H1B visa, let us now discuss some more notable names:
Jayshree Ullal (President and CEO, Arista Networks)
Jyoti Bansal (CEO and founder, AppDynamics)
Jay Chaudhry (CEO, Chairman, and founder, Zscaler)
Sabeer Bhatia (Founder, Hotmail; it was later sold to Microsoft)
Bharat Desai (Co-founder and Chairman, Syntel)
Pradeep Sindhu (Chairman, CDO, co-founder, Fungible; before this, he also co-founded Juniper Networks)
Nikesh Arora (Chairman and CEO, Palo Alto Networks)
Sanjay Mehrotra (CEO, Micron Technology)
Shantanu Narayen (Chairman and CEO, Adobe)
Anirudh Devgan (CEO, Cadence Design Systems)
Ajei S. Gopal (CEO, ANSYS)
Know More About:
H‑1B Visa Fee Hiked to $100,000: Reduced H1B Opportunities for Indian Students
With recent restrictive policies under Trump, the administration imposed a fee of $100,000 on new applications for H1B visas in USA. Effective from September 21, 2025, all employer companies are required to pay the increased H1B visa fee of $100,000 if they wish to hire a worker on this visa status. This could potentially mean fewer job opportunities for thousands of talented aspirants from India. This change in the immigration policies could also mean the end of futuristic America’s innovative companies.
US Companies With H1B Sponsorship Numbers in 2025
More of the total H‑1B visas were provided to Indian candidates. Also, TCS is the only Indian-origin company in the global top 5 that hired the highest number of H1B workers. Let us check the number of H1B visas granted in 2025 from January to June, along with the top 5 recruiting companies.
Amazon: 10,044
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS): 5,505
Microsoft: 4,539
Meta: 3,117
Apple: 1,619
Related Reads:
Is the American Dream Dying or Rising for Indian Students?
With the consistent restriction on international students, OPT workers, and H1B visa holders, the American dream is slipping away for Indian students. The Trump administration is imposing proposals and bills, including more scrutiny, visa uncertainty, deportation risks, increased requirements, and other restrictions for H1B workers. This cites to decrease in job prospects and fewer career growth opportunities for foreign workers. This also raises the question of whether the next Sundar Pichai will be in USA or not.
With high restrictions on US firms, many are also planning to shift their offices to India. This helps in the boom of India’s tech ecosystem. Also, many individuals who returned to India after H1B rejection/expiry are now working in Indian tech. India’s own startups, many of which are founded by ex-H‑1B talent, are on the path to yet another innovative company.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: Was Sundar Pichai on the H-1B visa?
A:
Yes, Sundar Pichai started his career in US on an H1B visa. He first graduated from the prestigious University of California, Berkeley. Then, he converted his visa status to an H1B visa. Then, he started working as a product manager at Google in 2004, followed to being the CEO in 2015.
Q: Did Elon Musk use an H-1B visa?
A:
Yes, Elon Musk was on an H1B visa. He gives all the credit of his entrepreneurial success in US tech industry to the H-1B visa program. This shows that H1B program is quite crucial for innovation.
Q: Does TCS sponsor H-1B?
A:
Yes, TCS does sponsor H-1B visas to eligible candidates. In fact, TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) is among the top 5 recruiting US firms that hired workers on H1B visa by sponsoring them.
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Hello Samarasimha,
YES, you can MS in UA after completing Bsc in Statistics. . All you have to do is score good marks in your PG and prepare for GRE. You should also decide upon the country and the university in which you are going to study.
Furthermore, the requirements to pursue MS in USA are as follows :
- 3 to 4 years bachelors degree in relevant field.
- 3.5 or higher GPA, equivalent to 87% in bachelors.
- GRE score of 330 or above.
- Statement of Purpose.
- Research Internships/ Published Research Papers.
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Further, requirements for Software jobs in USA are as follows :
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I hope that this will help.
Dear aspirant hope you are doing well..
To study at foreign universities/abroad in U. S , the admission process will require the candidate to give one language exam and one standardized exam. However, depending on the country, course, college, or university you are applying for you may be exempted from standardized exams. The language test will showcase your English proficiency skills. These exams are required for pursuing almost all courses abroad. Different countries have different language exams such as
- TOEFL exam for getting admission to the universities in the US and Canada. The score of this exam is valid for two years after the declaration of results
- There are plenty of universities abroad where you can apply to do master-level course, MSc in statistics, MSc in Operation Research, and Applied Mathematics, MSc in Mathematical Modeling, etc are some of the Master level Course in Mathematics that are available abroad. Students who have completed their graduation or bachelor's degree in Mathematics can apply for these courses. Foreign universities like Uppsala University, Dublin City University, Oxford Brookes University, University of York, University of Liverpool, etc offer all the above-mentioned courses in mathematics.
Top university of The USA for master degree courses
- John Carroll University
- Missouri University of Science and Technology
- Michigan State University
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- University of Arkansas
- Vanderbilt University
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You can get the detailed information about the process how to apply for MS in USA. read the given article. Link is given below
https://studyabroad.careers360.com/articles/how-apply-for-ms-in-usa/amp
Hope it's helpful for you..
Thank you
There are many ways to choose your university such as fees, the ranking of the university, which state it is located and scholarships. My suggestion is to choose your research focus and write academic papers. In the US, PhD in Commerce admission into the university depends on what you want to study (your area of research) and your already completed research papers. You can begin your research by searching online for US universities offering PhD in Business Administration. One example is University of California Los Angeles (https://www.anderson.ucla.edu/degrees/phd-program/admissions#app-req) .
Hello Student
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Hope this will help.
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