‘We are focused on creating a platform that aids talents to be globally attractive’

Globally, statistics show that the talent mobility sector has witnessed a shift in the landscape and immigration policies over the last couple of years.

Despite these huge immigration and talent relocation challenges, many forward-thinking economies have discovered that talent is the new oil. They want to ensure that the right talents move to their jurisdictions and that these talents help their economies stay relevant and competitive in this fast-changing world. Bade Adesemowo, co-founder of eMigr8, a global talent mobility platform that supports individuals from visa planning to long-term settlement, in this interview shares the vision and mission of the platform to support entire economies and help individuals become globally attractive talents. He also disclosed how the platform aspires to create a world where every individual fulfils their full potential and how it plans to groom the next generation of talents that are globally competitive. EMMANUEL SALAWU brings the excerpts:

How would you assess the current talent mobility, relocation, and settlement rate among Nigerians? What do you foresee for this trend in the next couple of years?

The global talent mobility sector has witnessed a shift in the landscape and immigration policies over the last couple of years. Many countries are now closing their doors to a large number of migrants. While it may seem that these countries are shutting their doors on migrants, they are equally opening their doors to global talents and migrants whom they consider net economic contributors.

Take, for instance, the United Kingdom (UK). They have made several statements regarding immigration changes, but for every one of those changes, they continue to create funds to attract talent to the UK.

The world may be frowning on immigration generally for unskilled migration, but the truth is that the world seeks the right expatriates to move to their jurisdictions.

Many forward-thinking economies have discovered that talent is the new oil. They want to ensure that the right talents move to their jurisdictions and that these talents help their economies stay relevant and competitive in this fast-changing world.

As the world continues to change, we are entering an era of abundance, and individuals must position themselves to be economic contributors. That is the only way they will remain relevant.

What unique strengths or competitive advantages does the eMigr8 platform have for users?

The eMigr8 platform is a global talent mobility platform that supports individuals from visa planning to long-term settlement. For many, it is a multi-year journey fraught with needs for support, information, and inspiration at every stage. eMigr8 helps individuals become globally attractive talent so they can qualify for visas like the UK Global Talent Visa, the US O-1 Visa, the French Tech Visa, the Australian National Innovation Visa, the Canadian Startup Visa, and the Germany EU Blue Card Visa.

We help these talents discover these routes, inspire them to pursue these paths, and plan their multi-year journeys. We provide talent companions and human expert coaches to guide them through the journey from start to finish.

The idea to establish the eMigr8 platform was born from my experiences and a desire to fulfill a dream of a world where talent is borderless, allowing individuals to become the best versions of themselves. It also aims to support entire economies and help individuals become globally attractive talents.

One of the tools currently powered by AI on the eMigr8 platform is the Visa Assessor, called Dr. Zenith. This is a free visa assessment tool that helps individuals discover, based on their current profiles, whether they are qualified or how close they are to qualifying for visas such as the UK Global Talent Visa, the US O-1 visa, and several other European talent-based visa routes.

How would you describe the role and contribution of the eMigr8 platform in addressing the challenges that talents and career professionals face across Nigeria and beyond?

Nigerian talents are incredibly resilient, and we have a significantly talented population. In many countries where clusters of Nigerians reside, you will find that many of them top various charts in areas such as academia, technology, startups, and more.

These achievements are possible due to the resilient nature of talents from a resilient nation like Nigeria. Nigerian talents are exceptional in this regard, but there is sometimes an exposure problem. When we say the world needs globally attractive individuals with extraordinary abilities, some Nigerians automatically shut themselves out, thinking they are not qualified. Unfortunately, in many cases, these talents are already qualified based on their previous experiences.

They have navigated challenges in an unstructured economy and may not realise they are already qualified or that they just need to take a few more steps to be recognised.

What structural challenges do you see as most critical for organisations in Nigeria today, and what capabilities will separate companies that thrive from those that struggle over the next few years?

The best way to answer this question is to suggest that the government stay out of the way of innovation. Multiple sectors in the Nigerian economy, such as technology, startups, and the creative sector, have thrived globally despite Nigeria’s economic challenges and structural issues like corruption, systemic policy failures, nepotism, and others.

The truth is that government policy at scale would be more effective if it aligned with the ambitions and growth directions of these sectors and their talents. I suggest that the government should at least stay out of the way if it will not support and assist in innovation.

The country has structural challenges, but the average Nigerian learns to thrive despite them.

Beyond the services that the eMigr8 platform provides, how does the platform view its role in supporting productivity, skills development, and long-term human capital growth in the sectors where it operates?

eMigr8 aspires to create a world where every individual fulfills their full potential. This means different things to different people. For some, it may involve growing and becoming the best in their local ecosystem; for others, it may mean becoming a global leader while still contributing locally.

For some, it could mean moving to a different jurisdiction to continue building their careers, while for others, it might involve returning to their home economy at a higher level to contribute effectively in global contexts.

Regardless of where individuals reside, the key is for them to become globally attractive, not just local champions, and to see the world as a global village where they can compete at the highest levels.

This is what eMigr8 aspires for: each individual becoming globally attractive. As individuals grow, they tend to uplift others along with them.

All of this is what we at eMigr8 do to help individuals navigate their journeys using AI systems, autonomous agents, human expert coaches, and ecosystem partners, ultimately contributing positively to the economy.

From your experience as co-founder, what leadership priorities are most critical when managing a platform like eMigr8 Visa Architect across the globe?

As a platform, we see ourselves as a talent-first organisation, which means we prioritise the needs of talent. We partner with countries and policymakers, as well as organisations, businesses, enterprises, and small-scale companies that provide services to these individuals.

Our priority is the talent. We want to ensure that we help individuals get from where they are today to where they want to be, and this informs many of our decisions. It influences the technology we build, the structures and processes we implement, and our user and customer experience.

We believe that if we can support the talent, everything else will fall into place. Therefore, this is what we prioritise on the eMigr8 platform.

In the course of creating and managing this platform, what challenges have you experienced, and how were you able to overcome them?

I have faced numerous challenges. One significant challenge has been assembling the right team members to support the growth of this platform.

Attracting the right people to our founding team has been difficult, especially since we are currently bootstrapping and fundraising millions of pounds in investment. Despite these challenges, we have achieved significant traction.

It hasn’t been easy; it involves leveraging relationships and being creative with the limited resources available to us. We are proud of where we are, but we recognise that we can go further with the right team, funding, and partnerships. These are some of the aspects we are actively building in my role as CTO and co-founder.

What strategic levers will drive eMigr8 Visa Architect growth over the next decade?

One of the strategic levers we are focusing on is forming partnerships. We are currently collaborating with organisations that have similar business models and can support our talents throughout their journeys.

The platform assists talents on a multi-year journey from visa planning to long-term settlement. We also help individuals become experts and continue to grow in their fields.

Numerous ecosystem partners, such as boot camps, universities, training institutions, language schools, solicitors, lawyers, HR and executive search platforms, and more, support these talents throughout their journey.

We are partnering with organisations in Nigeria, Pakistan, India, the Philippines, the US, and the UK, as well as coaches and consultants who can provide value to the thousands of talents on our platform.

The eMigr8 platform operates on four value drivers: the individual talents, the coaches who support them, the organisations they work with, and the nations that have policies to attract talent.