When the world heard about Cursor AI, the AI-powered coding platform now valued at $10 billion, most headlines focused on the innovation, the product, or the funding. But for many Pakistanis, the name Sualeh Asif stood out more than the valuation. A young man who once represented Pakistan at the International Mathematics Olympiad, who walked the streets of Karachi before walking the halls of MIT, had just co-founded one of the most transformative tools in AI-assisted software development.
Naturally, pride followed. Social media timelines lit up. “A Pakistani behind a $10B startup!” And just as quickly, the debates began: Is he really Pakistani? Did Pakistan help him succeed, or did he have to leave to grow?
These questions miss the point.
Cursor AI Shows the Talent Exists — But Does Pakistan Have the Ecosystem?
Sualeh’s story isn’t about nationality. It’s about potential and what happens when it meets the right environment.
There’s no doubt that Pakistan is home to brilliant minds. Year after year, our students top international exams, win Olympiads, and exhibit raw problem-solving ability that rivals the best in the world. But what happens next?
Too often, these bright sparks don’t find the mentorship, resources, or platforms they need to turn brilliance into impact. Ideas die young. Talent fades into routine. Or worse it leaves.
Brain Drain and the Cursor AI Effect: What Drives Talent Abroad?
Brain drain isn’t just about people leaving. It’s about systems failing to give them a reason to stay.
And the numbers are sobering.
- According to the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment, over 850,000 Pakistanis left the country for work abroad in 2022 alone, the highest in five years.
- Pakistan loses thousands of engineers, doctors, scientists, and IT professionals every year, many of them trained at subsidized public universities.
- A 2024 report by PIDE estimates that Pakistan suffered a staggering $303.4 billion loss in productivity in 2023 alone due to brain drain highlighting the massive economic cost of losing high-skilled talent to migration.
- Meanwhile, remittances while helpful are not a substitute for local innovation and intellectual capital.
Sualeh didn’t leave Pakistan because he lacked roots he left because MIT offered something we haven’t built yet: a launchpad for the extraordinary.
What We Can Learn from Sualeh Asif’s Journey
Sualeh’s success isn’t just a story of individual achievement, it’s a case study in what happens when technical excellence meets a supportive innovation ecosystem.
Here’s what it quietly tells us:
- Talent is not our issue. Access is.
- We need to invest in deep-tech education, not just code bootcamps.
- We need to move beyond celebrating unicorn valuations and start enabling unicorn creators.
- We need to build spaces where people can build without leaving.
Is Brain Drain the Real Issue—or Is It the Absence of a Cursor AI–Like Launchpad?
Whether one sees brain drain as a crisis or simply a global trend, it raises a difficult question: Why do so many of our brightest feel the need to build elsewhere?
Is it an opportunity? Infrastructure? Stability? Recognition?
Whatever the reasons, the pattern is clear: Pakistan produces talent but struggles to retain and empower it. Stories like Saleh Asif’s aren’t isolated; they’re part of a larger conversation about what we value, invest in, and choose to build. Perhaps the real question isn’t about ownership of success, but about whether we’re creating an environment where success wants to stay?
