In the video that is now going viral, Bill Gates is seen explaining how a group of 15 Indian engineers helped Microsoft be what it is today.
Gates said that all of them were from the IIT, and joined at a time when Microsoft was yet to taste the success it enjoys today.
The video assumes significance as tech companies scramble to find solutions to Trump’s new H-1B visa rules, which mandates tech professionals from foreign countries to pay $100,000 to the administration in order to secure work in the US.
“In a sense, my first connection with India came because of the IITs. One of the great people who worked for me said that he would go over to India and hire about 15 people who’d been students at IIT and that would strengthen Microsoft’s engineering capabilities,” Bill Gates said during an event at the Delhi IIT in 2024.
At the time, Microsoft had a few hundred employees but it was “hard to find amazing engineers.”
Gates said he thought it was a “good idea”. However, the move was criticised by the Indian as well as the American press.
“At the time, the Indian press said this was a terrible thing because all these great people were leaving the country. The US press said this was a terrible thing, all these people coming from another country,” the Microsoft co-founder said.
“But I think now, over 25 years later, we can say that was a phenomenal thing,” he added.
Why does H-1B visa matter for India?
Indian tech professionals account for the bulk of H-1B visas — over 70 per cent.
Donald Trump’s decision to hike the H-1B visa fee to $100,000 is being seen as a blow to India’s tech industry, where most professionals go to the US to make a career.
The latest move by US President Donald Trump to revise the H-1B visa fee to $100,000 has expanded protectionist barriers against India, according to a report by Systematix Research.
The report said Trump’s decision extends his anti-India trade offensives beyond the merchandise trade deficit and poses a fresh threat to India’s $190 billion services export industry.
