Stage 1: Request for Review Exceptional Promise

Stage 1
1

Hello everyone,

I’m pleased to share my evidence here and kindly request your review and support as I begin the first stage of my Global Talent Visa application. I’m applying under the Exceptional Promise route, and I would greatly appreciate your feedback and guidance on my evidence documents.

Thank you in advance for your time and support.

CORE DOCUMENTS

  • Recommendation Letters
    • Recommendation Letter from CTO of Company P (Knows my work at Current Company – P)
    • Recommendation Letter from Principal Staff Member (Knows my work at Company A)
    • Recommendation Letter from Engineering Manager (Knows my work at Company Z)
  • Personal Statement
  • Curriculum Vitae (CV)

MANDATORY CRITERIA (MC1): Recognition for Innovation and Product Impact

MC1_EV1: Growth of a Product-Led Company

  • Screenshots showing customer acquisition growth from the product I built with measurable impact
  • Evidence of regional expansion (growth into another country) with metrics
  • Media mentions and proof of large-scale customer acquisition (screenshots included)
  • Git commits showing my direct contributions and leadership on the product

MC1_EV2: Reference Letters Supporting Product Impact (External Validation)

  • Reference letter from a Partner Company using the product
  • Reference letter from the CEO of Company P

MC1_EV3: National Award – Top-Tier Individual Tech Award

  • Media coverage of the award ceremony
  • Award body letter, trophy, and certificate received
  • Selection criteria and judging process
  • Photograph of me receiving the award at the event
  • Screenshot of me being featured in the brochure with other winners
  • Screenshot showing my name mentioned with the award category I received

MC1_EV4: National Award – Innovation and Product Impact Award

  • Media publication screenshot of the award I received showing me as the recipient
  • Award body letter, trophy, and selection criteria
  • Screenshot showing me listed in the Winners section of the award body’s website
  • Additional Evidence: International Recognition Award (2025 Global Recognition Award)
    • Screenshot of award notification email
    • Selection criteria screenshot from Award body website
    • LinkedIn post screenshotI made sharing my recognition award, on which the awarding body congratulated me there too.

Summary: Two National Awards (for impactful technology solutions) and one International Recognition Award

MC1_EV5: Media Recognition

  • Two invitations to same national TV station to speak on Youth in Tech, how government can leverage technology, and my career journey as a software engineer (second interview).
  • Live broadcast evidence (screenshots from archived recordings)
  • Media interview coverage about me and the solutions I have built
  • Recognition on a tech website, with screenshot showing my picture, caption, and displayed website link.

OPTIONAL CRITERIA 2 (OC2): Contribution Outside Employment

OC2_EV1: Evidence as a Judge

  • Invitation as a Judge at the Innovation Lab segment of a Teens Conference (attendance over 1,500)
  • Screenshot of media mention listing me as one of the invited judges
  • Social media posts featuring me, other judges, and invited guests
  • Photographs:
    • On stage with contestants, giving comments alongside other judges
    • With other judges holding scorecards
    • Receiving an Appreciation Award
    • With other judges and the winner presented with the cash prize
  • Invitation and thank-you emails mentioning my name and judging purpose

OC2_EV2: Community and Open-Source Contributions

  • Contribution to Apache Kafka (major open-source event streaming project)
  • Stack Overflow contributions demonstrating technical engagement,
    with over 113,000+ developers benefiting from my shared solutions and insights
  • Google DevFest 2025 – Invited Speaker (Event Scheduled December 2025)
  • Panelist invitation – Discussed leveraging technology for business growth (Invitation mail, picture with other panelists on stage, picture of me speaking).

OPTIONAL CRITERIA 3 (OC3): Technical Contributions in Employment

EV1: Reference Letter from Head of Product of Company H

  • Details my commercial and technical contributions to core company systems
  • Highlights my leadership role in projects currently deployed in production
  • Demonstrates measurable revenue growth and business impact resulting from my work

EV2: Technical Evidence of Contributions

Company H

  • Git commit history showcasing my direct technical contributions
  • Architectural diagrams of implemented systems annotated with my name and role

Company P

  • Product contribution evidence, including architectural diagrams identifying my input
  • Screenshots of the product live in production use

EV3: Technical Evidence at Company A

  • Screenshot of the product’s live website demonstrating deployment in production
  • Code and integration samples from the developed system
  • Architectural diagrams (from Lucidchart) highlighting my authored components and design ownership

CC: @Akash_Joshi @Raphael

2

Hi @Ade_Ola

You have a good profile and application outline set out there!

Few pointers:
In OC2.1, is the Teens conference meant for teenagers or is it just the name? If it’s the former, it may not be the most appropriate for GTV. In that case, I would recommend you move MC5 to OC2 since your MC is already strong with the other evidences.

In OC2.2, were you only invited or did you also participate at Google DevFest?

3

Hello @pahuja , thank you very much for commenting on my evidence, much appreciated.

For OC2.1, the conference had a large number of teenage participants compared to other attendees, such as keynote speakers and guests. I was invited as a judge in the Innovation Lab segment, where I evaluated participants’ innovative ideas and the MVPs (Minimum Viable Products) they presented during the judging process.

The Governor of the State was also in attendance to grace the conference, adding to its significance.

I believe the Innovation Lab session represents a strong contribution outside of work, as it involved assessing young innovators. I also have substantial supporting evidence from the event to back this claim.

For OC2.2, I was invited and will be participating in the Google DevFest 2025 event scheduled for December.

Also, you previously suggested that I move MC1_EV5(Media Recognition) to OC2. Do you think it would stand a strong chance of being accepted as solid evidence under OC2?

4
  • teenage audience and participants are not a very strong evidence for judging. Hence I would recommend moving another strong evidence like MC5 into OC2.
  • yet to happen participation and one off close to date of application are not counted in the application. Most prominently in the document, you need to include the ones you have participated in.
5

Your MC looks very strong with the national awards and media coverage. However, I’d move MC1_EV5 (media recognition) to OC2 since your mandatory criteria is already well-supported by the awards alone. I’ve seen applications where overloading MC weakens the overall structure when you could strengthen your optional criteria instead.

For OC2_EV1, judging teenage innovators isn’t ideal evidence for Global Talent applications. The committee expects peer-level evaluation or industry-standard judging. Even with the Governor’s presence, the teenage audience undermines the professional weight you need here. Remove this from OC2.

Stack Overflow contributions are generally weak unless you have exceptional reputation scores or clear impact metrics. With 113,000 developers benefiting, you need to show this through screenshots of your reputation, badges, or specific answers that demonstrate technical leadership. Without strong metrics, this won’t carry much weight in OC2.

6

Now I have considered to move this ( MC1_EV5) below to OC2 as OC2_EV1 :

OC2_EV1: Media Recognition

I received two invitations from the same national TV station to speak on topics including Youth in Tech, how the government can leverage technology, and my career journey as a software engineer, including a follow-up interview.

Supporting evidence includes:
• Screenshots from archived recordings of the live broadcasts
• Media interview coverage highlighting my professional journey and the technology solutions I have developed
• Recognition on a technology website, including a screenshot showing my photograph, caption, and the published website link featuring the coverage

OC2_EV2: Evidence as a Judge

In October 2025, I was invited by an EdTech company to serve as a judge on a panel evaluating participants who had completed training programs in Software Engineering, Front-End Development, and Product Management. As a judge, I assessed participants’ work, reviewed their solutions to technical challenges, and evaluated their performance against established industry standards.

Supporting evidence includes:
• Photograph from the judging session
• Flyer from the event featuring myself and the other judges
• Screenshot of the challenge questions and evaluation score sheet used during the assessment
• Thank-you letter from the EdTech company acknowledging my contribution as a judge
• Invitation email from the company inviting me to participate as a judge
• Feedback and comments from some of the participants

Additional Evidence: I also served as a judge for the Innovation Lab event, where I evaluated teenagers presenting innovative ideas and MVPs. This demonstrates further participation in professional evaluation and mentoring within the tech community.

OC2_EV3: Community and Open Source Contribution

• Contribution to Apache Kafka, a major open-source event streaming platform

• Contributions on Stack Overflow, demonstrating active technical engagement, with over 113,000 developers benefiting from my shared solutions and insights

• Invited Speaker at Google DevFest 2025 (December 6, 2025) and a virtual GDG event (October 9, 2025)

Virtual Event:
• Invitation email
• GDG community event link
• Video recording archive of the event (YouTube)

Physical Event (100+ participants):
• Photograph of me speaking on stage
• Speaker identification tag from the event
• Profile and photograph featured on the event website alongside other speakers

• Panelist invitation at a technology event discussing how businesses can leverage technology for growth

Supporting evidence includes:
• Invitation email
• Photograph with other panelists on stage
• Photograph of me speaking during the session

CC: @Akash_Joshi @pahuja