Deel CEO Says Companies are Moving to Where the Talent Lives
In a recent high-level interview, Alex Bouaziz, the co-founder and CEO of the $12 billion global HR juggernaut Deel, delivered a stark warning to Western economies: companies will follow talent, regardless of national borders.
Amidst a landscape of tightening immigration laws and a fierce global race for Artificial Intelligence (AI) expertise, Alex argues that the era of centralizing the “best and brightest” in a few tech hubs is coming to an end.
Deel CEO: The Great Migration of Opportunity
Alex’s central thesis is simple yet disruptive: “If companies can’t bring the best people in the world to them, they will go to where the talent is.”
He points to a fundamental shift in corporate strategy where businesses, once desperate to relocate talent to the Silicon Valleys of the world, are now aggressively opening offices in regions like India, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.
The CEO noted that while immigration policies in the U.S. and Europe have become increasingly restrictive, the corporate demand for high-tier skills has only intensified.
This disconnect is fueling a “borderless” hiring surge. Instead of fighting uphill battles for H-1B visas, companies are leveraging global payroll and compliance platforms like Deel to hire talent where they already live.
The AI Talent War and Wage Inflation
A primary driver of this shift is the skyrocketing cost of AI talent.
According to Alex, small and mid-sized companies are essentially priced out of the San Francisco Bay Area.
“They just cannot compete with Bay Area salaries for AI engineers,” he stated.
This has transformed remote hiring from a cost-saving measure into a strategic necessity.
For many firms, the goal is no longer to find “cheap labor” but to access highly specialized skills that are physically unavailable in their domestic markets.
Alex highlighted that in the next two to three years, the labor market will see a radical shift where “a 22-year-old who is fluent in AI tools may outperform someone with ten years of experience who hasn’t adapted.”
India: A Critical Global Hub for Deel
Deel’s own growth mirrors this trend.
The company now employs over 1,000 people in India, a market Alex describes as one of Deel’s most critical hubs—both as a source of elite talent and an operating base.
To support this, Deel is launching a localized payroll engine in India to deepen compliance with complex labor and tax regulations, signaling long-term commitment to the region.
The End of “Outsourcing”
Alex is also pushing for a change in corporate vocabulary.
He argues that the term “outsourcing” is outdated and carries a pejorative connotation of seeking low-quality, low-cost labor.
Instead, he characterizes the current movement as “strategic global hiring.”
“Qualification, not location, should determine job opportunities,” the Deel CEO emphasized.
He believes that the global remote work model is actually raising wages in regions like India and Latin America by 70% to 200%, creating a more level playing field and allowing workers to thrive in their home countries while working for the world’s most prestigious firms.
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