About Boaz Descalo
AI expert, founder and CEO of Node8, host of the AI First community, and independent expert witness for U.S. immigration matters involving artificial intelligence.
Who I am
I am an AI practitioner with more than 15 years building and leading artificial intelligence and machine learning systems, across enterprise, finance, healthcare, and critical infrastructure. I run Node8, an applied AI consultancy that takes B2B companies from strategy to production, and I host AI First, a community of hundreds of AI leaders and operators.
I also write independent expert opinion letters for U.S. immigration matters involving AI. I have prepared 20+ of them, for petitioners across research, applied engineering, and technical leadership roles.
Credentials
| Current role | Founder and CEO of Node8, an applied AI consultancy taking B2B companies from AI strategy to production implementation. |
| Experience | 15+ years leading AI products and teams, including at Intel, and across finance, healthcare, critical infrastructure, ecommerce, and enterprise SaaS. |
| Community | Host of AI First, a community of hundreds of AI leaders, operators, and founders from organizations including OpenAI, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon. |
| Advisory | Industry advisor at Cornell Tech and at Primary Venture Partners. |
| Professional bodies | IEEE committee member. |
| Education | MBA in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Tel Aviv University. BSc in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. |
| Expert letters | 20+ independent expert opinion letters prepared for AI immigration matters including EB-1A, EB-2 NIW, O-1, H-1B, and RFE/NOID responses. |
Why I write expert letters
A great deal of the most consequential AI work never becomes public. It ships inside companies, under NDA, with no paper and no citation trail. When the people who did that work go through an immigration process, the evidentiary system tends to underweight them, not because the work was not significant but because its significance is not legible from the outside.
An independent expert evaluation is one of the few mechanisms that addresses that. It is work I find genuinely worth doing, and it is why I hold a hard line on what I will and will not write.
How I work
- Independent. I have no prior relationship with the petitioners I evaluate. That independence is the whole basis of the letter's value.
- Not outcome-contingent. I charge for review time and preparation. Payment never depends on the content of the opinion or the result of the petition.
- Honest about weak records. If the evidence does not support a favorable opinion, I say so before drafting rather than producing something an adjudicator will discount.
- Within my expertise. I decline matters outside my genuine competence. An expert letter is worth only as much as the expertise behind it.
- Not legal advice. I am not an attorney. I supply technical evaluation; your counsel builds and argues the petition.
Expert letter experience
Applicant affiliations at the time of expert review, with the petition type involved.
| Applicant affiliation | Petition type |
|---|---|
| OpenAI | Confidential |
| Microsoft | EB-1A |
| Meta Platforms | EB-2 NIW |
| Amazon | O-1 |
| Salesforce | EB-1A |
| McKinsey & Company | EB-1A |
| Cisco Systems | EB-1A |
| Oracle | EB-1A |
| Snowflake | EB-1A |
| Datadog | O-1 |
| Dell Technologies | EB-2 NIW |
| Ripple Labs | EB-2 NIW |
| Fidelity Investments | EB-2 NIW |
| SoundHound | EB-1A |
| Navy Federal Credit Union | EB-1A |
| Peraton Enterprise Solutions | EB-1A |
| PAREXEL | EB-1A |
Company names describe an applicant's current or prior affiliation at the time of expert review. They do not imply that the company requested, sponsored, reviewed, endorsed, approved, or participated in the expert opinion letter.
Areas of expertise
- artificial intelligence
- machine learning
- deep learning
- natural language processing
- computer vision
- data science
- AI strategy
- enterprise AI
- agentic AI
- automation
- SaaS
- AI infrastructure
Frequently asked questions
▸ Who is Boaz Descalo?
Boaz Descalo is an AI expert with over 15 years of experience in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and AI product development. He is the founder and CEO of Node8, an applied AI consultancy, and hosts AI First, a community of hundreds of AI leaders and operators. He is an industry advisor at Cornell Tech and Primary Venture Partners and an IEEE committee member. He provides independent expert opinion letters for U.S. immigration matters involving AI, and has prepared more than 20 of them.
▸ What qualifies Boaz Descalo as an AI expert for immigration purposes?
Expert opinion letters carry weight when the author's standing in the field is established and relevant to the specific work being evaluated. In practice that rests on hands-on experience building and shipping AI systems, recognition by institutions and peers, and independence from the petitioner. Boaz brings 15+ years of applied AI leadership, an advisory role at Cornell Tech and Primary Venture Partners, IEEE committee membership, and a consultancy practice delivering AI systems in production. Each letter states the basis for his assessment explicitly, including why he is positioned to evaluate that particular area of AI.
▸ Is Boaz Descalo an immigration attorney?
No. Boaz is not an attorney and does not provide legal advice, prepare petitions, determine eligibility, or represent anyone before USCIS. His role is limited to independent technical and professional evaluation. Expert opinion letters should be used in coordination with a licensed immigration attorney.
▸ What areas of AI does he cover?
He covers artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, computer vision, data science, AI strategy, enterprise AI, agentic AI, automation, SaaS, AI infrastructure, and related software and data fields. Where a matter falls outside his genuine area of expertise, he declines it rather than writing outside his competence, because an expert letter is only as good as the expertise behind it.
▸ How can I contact Boaz Descalo?
For expert opinion letter matters, use the request form at descalo.com/expert-letter-contact with the petitioner's CV, petition type, and case summary. For advisory, speaking, or anything else, use the general contact form at descalo.com/contact.