Who is Priya Kulkarni? Ex-Microsoft techie launches AI startup to simplify US visa process

Priyanka Kulkarni, a 34-year-old machine learning scientist, has launched Casium — a startup that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to simplify the employment-based immigration process.

Casium's core product is a portal that allows employers to run visa cases end-to-end, replacing the traditional reliance on manual processes like Excel spreadsheets and, in many instances, external law firms.

After spending nine years on a visa herself, Kulkarni said her goal of building the company is to bring speed and transparency to a system often mired in delays and confusion, Business Insider reported.

How does Casium work?

Priyanka Kulkarni designed the product to handle the volatility of employment immigration, such as the Trump administration's surprise executive order that proposed a $100,000 fee for each new H-1B application.

The start-up claims to have helped hundreds of candidates with assessments, compliance reviews, and actual filings, boasting an "exceptionally high approval rate."

Kulkarni said the tech deployed in the product reduces the time needed to gather paperwork for an application from three to six months working (with traditional law firms) to less than 10 business days. It also detects errors, which could help more candidates easily go through the process.

Casium also offers free initial assessments and charges a flat fee for filings based on visa type. Currently, a subscription model is under development, Business Insider reported.

All about the founder

Born and raised in India, Priya Kulkarni has a Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Mumbai. She later pursued a Master's in Applied Mathematics from Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering.

Kulkarni was hired straight out of college to join Microsoft on an H-1B visa. There, she spent nearly a decade of her career as a machine learning scientist, helping to shape AI strategy for enterprise products like Office.

Kulkarni described the H-1B system, tied to a specific employer and awarded by lottery, as “exhausting, confusing, and at times can feel very career-limiting.”

After securing a spot in the Ai2 Incubator's 2024 cohort in Seattle, she applied for an EB-1 visa, also known as the "Einstein visa" for foreign nationals with extraordinary abilities. She worked with a law firm for three months to wrangle the paperwork.

On her first day at the incubator, when a managing director asked her what she wanted to build, she didn't hesitate to say immigration tech.

"Everything I've done," she said, “has culminated to this point,” Business Insider reported.