‘Make it per day’: Metaview CTO defies $100,000 US H-1B visa fee with India hiring drive

London-born tech founder Shahriar Tajbakhsh is leaning into a message few in the US tech industry are willing to state openly right now: world-class talent is worth any price. 

The CTO and co-founder of Metaview AI — a startup building software to automate job interviews — has become an unlikely poster face in the latest debate over America’s escalating H-1B visa costs. After the Trump administration unveiled a steep $100,000 yearly fee for companies sponsoring H-1B workers, Tajbakhsh simply cracked a joke: “Make it per day. I’ll set up a recurring payment.” 

His comment resurfaced this month as Metaview’s hiring posters in India went viral. In bold text, the ads read: “Yes, we still sponsor H-1Bs” and “No, AI won’t build itself.” 

Hiring in the H-1B heartland  

While the new fee has rattled technology companies across the US, Metaview is signaling the opposite. The company has been actively recruiting in India — the world’s largest source of H-1B talent — and even publicly mocking the anxiety that has gripped much of the industry. 

“When the fee was announced in September, he called it a ‘rounding error’ compared to what H-1B staff members contribute,” the company noted. 

The online buzz reflects a stark contrast: as many American firms reconsider hiring foreign workers due to political blowback and surging costs, Metaview is expanding its US footprint and preparing to file more H-1B petitions in the next lottery. 

A founder who isn’t on an H-1B himself 

Tajbakhsh, who is of Iranian origin, is not an H-1B holder. Instead, he is relocating to the US on an EB-1 visa — the fast-track, first-preference category for individuals of “extraordinary ability,” outstanding researchers, or senior multinational executives. 

His own immigration path underscores his larger point: talent is the core of innovation. 

“The only way to build anything meaningful that changes people’s lives is to have a world-class team — there’s no shortcut around that,” he said. “Trying to save money on talent is the most irresponsible thing a founder could possibly do.” 

From London’s tech halls to a transatlantic startup 

Tajbakhsh studied computer science at University College London before working at Palantir Technologies, the Silicon Valley data-analytics giant. In 2018, he launched Metaview AI in London; the company has since expanded to the US, where demand for AI-driven hiring tools has surged. 

Earlier this year, he told Business Insider that even an executive order amid the Trump administration’s tightening of immigration rules would not change his belief that people — not policies — determine whether a company succeeds.  

By calling the $100,000 fee insignificant, Tajbakhsh is taking a bold public stance at a time when tech firms are quietly resetting their global recruiting plans. But Metaview’s leadership appears unfazed. 

In the CEO’s words, “$100,000 just doesn’t matter” when weighted against the value created by great engineers and researchers. For a startup betting on AI to reshape the future of hiring, that may be the most self-consistent position of all.