News Desk
In the heart of Silicon Valley, where the future is coded and algorithms reshape industries, a cadre of Indian immigrants is quietly driving America’s dominance in artificial intelligence. An analysis by the Institute for Progress (IFP), shared first with Axios, reveals a striking statistic: 60% of the 42 U.S.-based companies on the Forbes AI 50 2025 list—25 in total—were founded or co-founded by immigrants. Among them, Indian founders stand out, with nine individuals leading the charge, more than any other country, including China (eight founders) and France (three).
From revolutionizing healthcare to redefining how we search the internet, these Indian visionaries are not just participants in the AI boom—they are its architects, bringing India’s intellectual prowess to the global stage.
The story of Indian contributions to American AI is one of resilience, ingenuity, and outsized impact. As the Trump administration crafts its AI policies amid an “America first” ethos and stringent immigration debates, the role of Indian talent underscores a critical truth: the U.S.’s technological edge depends heavily on the brilliance of those born abroad, particularly from India. Here, we delve into the companies, the founders, and the transformative innovations that highlight India’s pivotal role in shaping the future.
The Numbers: India’s Leading Edge
The Forbes AI 50 2025 list, a prestigious ranking of the most promising privately held AI companies in the U.S., serves as the foundation for the IFP’s analysis. Of the 42 U.S.-based firms, 25 boast immigrant founders from 25 countries. India leads with nine founders, a testament to the country’s deep reservoir of technical talent. These founders helm or co-helm at least seven companies, representing 16.7% of the U.S.-based list, with their innovations spanning healthcare, enterprise software, generative AI, and search technology.
The identified Indian founders are Dr. Shiv Rao (Abridge), Tuhin Srivastava (Baseten), Varun Mohan (Codieum), Arvind Jain (Glean), Aravind Srinivas (Perplexity), Vipul Ved Prakash (Together AI), Ashutosh Garg (Eightfold.ai), and Varun Kacholia (Eightfold.ai). A ninth founder, implied as Indian by the IFP’s count, is unnamed, possibly linked to Databricks but the eight confirmed names already paint a vivid picture of Indian excellence.
These companies are not just startups; they are economic powerhouses. Glean, for instance, is valued at $2.2 billion, while Perplexity commands a $520 million valuation. Baseten, with a more modest $220 million valuation, raised $40 million in a Series B round, and Eightfold.ai, a unicorn, exceeds $1 billion in worth. Together, these firms employ thousands, serve millions, and attract billions in venture capital, all while pushing the boundaries of what AI can achieve.
Abridge: Healing with AI
In Pittsburgh, Dr. Shiv Rao, a cardiologist-turned-entrepreneur, is transforming healthcare with Abridge. Founded in 2018, Abridge uses AI-driven voice recognition and natural language processing to summarize doctor-patient conversations, generating medical notes in real-time and integrating them with electronic health records. This innovation slashes the administrative burden on clinicians, who often spend hours on paperwork, allowing them to focus on patient care. Rao’s vision, rooted in his medical expertise and India’s tradition of problem-solving, has made Abridge a lifeline for thousands of doctors and patients. The company’s technology, which transcribes complex medical dialogues with remarkable accuracy, is a beacon of how Indian ingenuity is improving lives.
Baseten: Democratizing AI
Tuhin Srivastava, a San Francisco-based entrepreneur, is making AI accessible to businesses through Baseten. Founded to simplify machine learning workflows, Baseten’s platform allows companies to deploy AI models on their own cloud or Baseten’s infrastructure, even if they lack deep technical expertise. With $40 million raised in a Series B round at a $220 million valuation, Srivastava is scaling Baseten’s capabilities, adding GPUs and optimizing workloads to serve industries like retail, finance, and logistics. His work embodies India’s knack for building bridges—here, between complex technology and practical application—ensuring that AI’s benefits reach far beyond tech hubs.
Codieum: Accelerating Software
Varun Mohan’s Codieum is redefining software development with AI. The company’s platform leverages generative AI to assist developers in writing code, automating testing, and optimizing workflows, cutting development time significantly. Mohan, a visionary in AI-driven engineering, has positioned Codieum as a vital tool for tech companies racing to deliver products faster. His contributions highlight India’s growing influence in software innovation, where precision and efficiency are paramount, and Codieum’s impact is felt in the rapid deployment of applications across industries.
Glean: Powering Enterprise Search
Arvind Jain, a former Google engineer, is behind Glean, a Palo Alto-based company valued at $2.2 billion. Glean’s AI-powered enterprise search engine indexes a company’s entire database, delivering instant answers to employee queries. Used by firms like Canva, Duolingo, and Grammarly, Glean saves hours of manual searching, boosting workplace productivity. Jain is now expanding Glean’s capabilities with AI-driven Slack bots that resolve HR and operational questions in real-time. His journey from India to Silicon Valley exemplifies the country’s legacy of producing world-class engineers who solve universal problems with elegant solutions.
Perplexity: Redefining Search
Aravind Srinivas, a former OpenAI researcher, founded Perplexity in 2022 to challenge the status quo of online search. Valued at $520 million and generating over $10 million in annual recurring revenue, Perplexity’s conversational search engine combines multiple AI models to provide precise, context-aware answers. Srinivas’s platform is a direct competitor to giants like Google, offering users a seamless, conversational experience. His success underscores India’s ability to produce thinkers who not only master cutting-edge technology but also dare to disrupt entrenched industries.
Together AI: Empowering Developers
Vipul Ved Prakash leads Together AI, a San Francisco-based company that provides cloud-based tools for deploying open-source generative AI models. Its RedPajama-V2 dataset, containing over 30 trillion tokens, is the largest open resource for training large language models, serving more than 45,000 registered developers. Prakash’s mission to democratize AI access reflects India’s ethos of inclusive innovation, ensuring that researchers and startups worldwide can build advanced AI without prohibitive costs. Together AI’s contributions are accelerating global AI research, with India’s fingerprints on every breakthrough.
Eightfold.ai: Transforming Talent
Ashutosh Garg and Varun Kacholia, both Indian immigrants, co-founded Eightfold.ai, a talent management platform valued at over $1 billion. Employing 500 people, Eightfold.ai uses AI to match candidates with jobs, optimize hiring processes, and enhance workforce planning. Its technology ensures better fits between skills and roles, promoting diversity and efficiency in recruitment. Garg and Kacholia’s work showcases India’s ability to tackle complex human challenges with AI, making workplaces fairer and more productive.
Impact: India’s Intellectual Capital
The contributions of these Indian founders extend far beyond their companies. They are reshaping industries and economies, with impacts felt globally. In healthcare, Abridge’s AI reduces clinician burnout and improves patient outcomes, addressing systemic inefficiencies. In enterprises, Glean and Eightfold.ai enhance productivity and fairness, while Baseten empowers businesses to adopt AI seamlessly. Perplexity is redefining how we access information, and Together AI is fueling the next wave of AI research. Codieum’s tools are accelerating software innovation, critical in a world driven by digital transformation.
Economically, these companies are juggernauts. Their combined valuations—Glean at $2.2 billion, Eightfold.ai over $1 billion, Perplexity at $520 million, and Baseten at $220 million—reflect investor confidence in Indian-led innovation. They employ thousands, from engineers to sales teams, and serve millions of users, from doctors to developers. Their ability to attract billions in venture capital underscores the trust placed in India’s talent to deliver transformative technologies.
India’s role in this AI revolution is no accident. The country produces over 1.5 million engineering graduates annually, many trained in rigorous institutions like the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). This pipeline of talent, combined with India’s culture of resilience and problem-solving, has made it a powerhouse of intellectual capital. Indian founders bring not just technical expertise but also a global perspective, enabling them to address universal challenges with scalable solutions.
Navigating Challenges: Immigration and Policy
Despite their contributions, Indian founders face significant hurdles in the U.S. The IFP’s Jeremy Neufeld, director of immigration policy, warns of “two major headwinds”: increasing global competition for talent and U.S. immigration barriers. Countries like the U.K., Canada, and China are aggressively recruiting STEM graduates, while the U.S. grapples with growing wait times for green cards, particularly for Indian professionals on H-1B visas. Some Indians face delays of decades, creating uncertainty for those driving America’s AI boom.
The Trump administration’s “America first” policies add complexity. A debate over H-1B visas erupted late last year, with Elon Musk, a South African immigrant and OpenAI co-founder, defending their necessity for high-skilled workers. Others argue for prioritizing domestic training, a view echoed by the National Science Board, which calls for heavier investment in U.S. STEM education while acknowledging the indispensable role of foreign-born talent. Indian founders, caught in this crossfire, continue to innovate, proving their value through results.
President Trump’s recent executive order, signed in his first days of his second term, directs his administration to develop an AI “action plan” by summer 2025 to “sustain and enhance America’s global AI dominance.” The plan’s success will hinge on policies that retain talents like Rao, Srinivas, and Jain, whose contributions are central to U.S. leadership. India’s nine founders on the Forbes AI 50 list are a reminder that immigration is not just a policy issue—it’s a competitive advantage.
A Legacy of Excellence
The story of Indian founders in American AI is one of triumph over adversity. From navigating visa challenges to building billion-dollar companies, they embody the spirit of innovation that defines both India and the U.S. Their work is a bridge between two nations, blending India’s intellectual heritage with America’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. As Neufeld puts it, “A critical part of the historic story about U.S. AI leadership is that we’re able to draw on the best and brightest from around the world.” India, with its nine founders, is undeniably at the forefront of that story.
As the U.S. competes with China, which graduates far more STEM students, Indian talent offers a strategic edge. These founders are not just building companies; they are building the future, from AI that heals to AI that searches, codes, and hires. Their success is a testament to India’s enduring legacy of excellence and a call to ensure that the U.S. remains a beacon for global talent.
In Silicon Valley and beyond, the names Rao, Srivastava, Mohan, Jain, Srinivas, Prakash, Garg, and Kacholia resonate as symbols of what’s possible when brilliance knows no borders. India’s contributions to American AI are not just a chapter in the tech story—they are the backbone of a revolution. And as the world races toward an AI-driven future, India’s innovators are leading the way, one algorithm at a time.
