Theo Abramo, UC Berkeley-SciencesPo

Graduating this spring with a UC Berkeley-Sciences Po dual degree, Theo is thrilled and relieved that he has secured a job at an AI startup in Manhattan, New York. The French native who grew up in Dubai urges international students aspiring to an American college education to be intentional and realistic from the beginning, noting that careful planning is now essential in navigating the shifting US study and work visa policies.

IO: Congratulations on your pending graduation from UC-Berkeley and your new job! Where will you be working and what’s your role?

Theo: I’ll be joining Manhattan-based EliseAI as an AI Operations Specialist in their rotational program. The company is at the intersection of AI systems, real estate operations, and product deployment. I’ll be working on implementing and optimizing AI agents that automate workflows from leasing to tenant communication for property managers. It’s a very hands-on position and I feel like it’s the perfect bridge between my background in data science and economics at Berkeley and my long-term interest in building vertical AI that reshapes industries.

IO: What drew you to the EliseAI role? 

Theo: The company appealed to me because of its combination of vertical AI focus, technical depth, and real-world impact. It’s not building a generic AI wrapper. They recently raised $250 million, which signals both market validation and long-term ambition. 

IO: How was the job search? 

Theo: It was honestly one of the hardest things I’ve gone through professionally. Searching for a job in the US as an international student adds a real layer of complexity. Visa sponsorship, OPT (optional practical training), and employer hesitation make the employment opportunity funnel narrower for me and other international students.

I started at UC-Berkeley as a junior majoring in Data Science (after studying Economics with a minor in Law and East Asia Relations at SciencesPo in France), and aimed for competitive tech roles. From that point on, I treated recruiting almost like a second major. I moved forward in several competitive internship pipelines in Silicon Valley, but ultimately chose to return to Dubai to intern at TikTok. I actually secured that opportunity through a UC-Berkeley career fair. The career office really helped me to set my resume apart from all the other candidates and to network directly with recruiters and alumni. Ultimately, I leveraged my TikTok experience to secure my full-time offer at EliseAI.

IO: Being a non-US citizen, how did that factor into your choices and decisions?

Theo: First, it made me much more strategic and globally flexible. I had to think not only about the quality of the role, but also about planning for different cities, and OPT timelines. I was preparing for big tech interviews in San Francisco, Dublin, and London, while also keeping a close eye on large funding rounds for top tier VCs and potential tech IPOs and acquisitions. 

It also pushed me to prioritize the skills I would learn at a company, as opposed to being drawn to a shiny name. I knew I needed to be in roles where I could develop highly transferable, technically relevant skills quickly. That influenced my decision to pursue positions at companies like EliseAI, where I could work directly with AI systems in production. Ultimately, being international made the process harder, but it forced me to think long term, assess risk carefully, and make decisions with both career growth and immigration realities in mind.

IO: You’ve struggled with your visa situation. Give us a sense of what you’ve been dealing with. 

Theo: For example, I would advance through multiple interview processes for US roles, sometimes reaching final stages, only to be redirected to EU or UAE offices or told the team could not sponsor my visa. The issue was often not performance, but immigration uncertainty. The hardest part has been the unpredictability. As an international student, there is always an additional layer of risk attached to your candidacy. It forces you to stay flexible, build strong leverage through skills and experience, and think strategically about every opportunity.

IO: Is your company helping you with your work visa? 

Theo: I’ll be starting on UC-Berkeley’s OPT, and because I will graduate in Data Science, I’m eligible for the STEM extension, which gives me up to three years of work authorization. EliseAI has been supportive throughout the process, and is familiar with hiring international candidates. UC-Berkeley’s international office also has been extremely helpful in guiding me through the paperwork, timelines, and compliance requirements. 

IO: During a tumultuous time in the US , you are an international student who has found a way to stay and work. What is your candid advice – having gone through the process – to students and parents who are eyeing US universities and potential careers there? 

Theo: Having studied at top institutions in both Europe and North America, I honestly think there is no better place to accelerate academically and professionally than the United States. The intensity, access to opportunity, and sheer pace of learning are unmatched. But it is absolutely an investment–financially, emotionally, and psychologically. The pressure is real. The competition is real. And as an international student, the immigration constraints add another layer of complexity that families often underestimate. 

If you decide to go to university in the US, you have to treat it like a high stakes investment. You cannot arrive casually. You need to be intentional from day one. That means networking early, understanding visa pathways like OPT and STEM extensions, pursuing internships aggressively, and building a differentiated skill set. There is no room to drift. At the same time, the upside is extraordinary. The exposure to world class peers, proximity to innovation, and culture of ambition compound quickly. If you are willing to commit fully and operate with urgency, the US can dramatically accelerate your trajectory. But you have to go all in.

IO: Reflecting on your journey from applying to US universities to where you are now, how was the experience compared to your original expectations?

Theo: Before coming to the US, I imagined strong academics and good career opportunities. What I did not fully anticipate was the culture of ambition. I was genuinely surprised by how driven and capable the people around me are. I am surrounded by individuals who constantly put themselves out there, build projects, apply for competitive roles, launch startups, fail publicly, and then do it again. There is a normalization of risk taking that changes your mindset. Opportunities move quickly, and you are expected to move with them. That can be overwhelming at first, especially as an international student. 

More than anything, the ecosystem pushes you to raise your standards. Being in an environment where excellence is the baseline reshapes how you think about your own potential. It has been demanding, at times exhausting, but ultimately transformative in ways I could not have fully predicted when I first applied.