Feedback on my application for Exceptional Talent

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Hi all,

Could you please help me assess my eligibility for the Global Talent Visa (Tech Nation) under the Exceptional Talent route? I would greatly appreciate any feedback or suggestions on strengthening my application.

Questions:

  1. Does my role as a Senior Leader at a Big Four firm meet Tech Nation’s criteria, or must it be a technology company?
  2. Does the structure of my application seem strong and aligned with Tech Nation guidelines? Any recommendations for improvement?
  3. In my OC3, I will include two pages covering the rollout of GenAI products, training, and feedback. Additionally, I will have a page from the function lead (a director) confirming this (as an employer letter). Is this too much, or should it be split into two separate pieces of evidence?
  4. Employer Letter Formatting (OC3) - should this be formatted like a recommendation letter, or is a detailed business impact statement more appropriate? The same question goes for Letter from Research Supervisor or Academic Expert.
  5. Can I add snapshots of anonymous feedback across? Is that considered good evidence or since it is anonymous it is not strong?

Below is my application outline:

Background

I am a Senior Leader at a Big Four firm in London on a Skilled Worker Visa, with over two years of experience in the UK. My expertise lies in Digital Transformation, AI adoption, and process automation, and I look after three GenAI products within my function. Through leading a team, my work has resulted in £XX cost savings, operational efficiency improvements, and increased AI adoption.

Prior to this role, I worked in a multinational logistics company, where I led digitisation projects, and data-driven decision-making to streamline processes, saving a significant amount. Additionally, I have four published research papers, including one in a Q1-rated, peer-reviewed journal (published in December 2020) on Machine Learning applications in healthcare.

Letters of Recommendation (LoR)

  1. Senior Leader (Current Company): Covers AI adoption and digital transformation impact.
  2. Senior Leader (Current Company): Highlights leadership, contribution to £XX cost savings, and function-wide technology adoption.
  3. Global Manager (Previous Company): Focuses on digital transformation in logistics, including automation and data-driven decision-making.

Mandatory Criteria (MC) – Recognised as a Leader in Digital Technology

  1. Leadership in Product-Led Digital Technology - in this document, I will be including:
  • Evidence of leading the rollout of an internal product, integrating it across 30+ teams.
  • Drove adoption by digitalising processes and designing wireframes. I will add an example case study showcasing how a team benefited from the tool resulting in 20% reduction of their cost with feedback from the process owner.
  1. High Salary: Will provide a salary certificate demonstrating compensation above the industry average, reinforcing leadership status.

Optional Criteria 3 (OC3): Significant Business Contribution

  • My current AI role
    • Employer Letter (Current Role): Covers overall AI adoption in my function and my overall efforts in transformation.
    • AI (Current Role):
      • Led the rollout of 3 GenAI products - Designed and delivered training for over 500 employees, facilitating company-wide AI literacy.
      • Using the AI tools led to time savings, reducing manual effort and improving decision-making processes.
  • My previous role case study - where I used data analysis and visualisation solutions to increase our operational KPIs by 30% (I will mention in detail what is the KPI and a screenshot of the dashboard). I implemented in my local station but then I led the role out of this solution globally.

Optional Criteria 4 (OC4): Academic Contributions

  • Q1 Journal Publication (Machine Learning & Healthcare, 2020):
    • Will provide proof of Q1 ranking, citations, and impact factor.
  • Letter from Research Supervisor or Academic Expert:
    • Professor (Academic): Validates Q1 journal publication and AI research impact.
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Hi Mohammad, your salary evidence and Q1 publication are strong pillars. With minor adjustments to evidence structuring and clearer alignment with Tech Nation’s criteria, this application has high potential for success. I recommend slightly restructuring your OC3 evidence to focus on one standout achievement per document, which helps assessors quickly grasp your impact. Your employer letters should emphasize specific business outcomes for optimum impact. For the academic contribution, ensure the professor’s letter directly links your research to real-world AI applications. The anonymous feedback could be strengthened by pairing it with quantitative metrics from your dashboards.

While your Big Four role demonstrates leadership, clarify how your work aligns with Tech Nation’s definition of “product-led digital technology.” If your GenAI tools are internal products, highlight their technical complexity and scalability. Consider adding a visual timeline of your career progression to help assessors quickly see your growth trajectory.

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Hi Akash, I appreciate your feedback. Would you recommend moving the employee letter to my MC documents rather than OC3, or should I focus solely on AI adoption and drop the logistics case study on improving KPIs through data analysis and visualisation solutions? If I do that, I wouldn’t be showcasing any evidence from my previous role. Which combination would be best for my application? I’ll explore how to best restructure it, but any advice would be helpful.

Regarding the GenAI tools, one product is an internal tool, while the others are external. My role focused on rolling out the tools and driving adoption rather than development.

Great suggestion about the visual timeline of my career—where do you think it would be best to include it as I am aware that the personal statement only accepts text format? Thanks.

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  1. I think that’s your decision to make. You need to figure out what your evidence spread is and that you have strong evidences meeting the minimum criteria of each MC and OCs you’ve chosen.
  2. Regarding the timeline, this would probably be best to go along with your CV.
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