Recently, Madhu Gottumukkala, the Indian-origin acting director of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), came under fire after uploading sensitive government contracting documents into the AI model ChatGPT.
The documents were marked “for official use only” and were not meant for public release. They were not classified, but the incident triggered internal security alerts, which led to a review by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Following this news, a self-described 'Christian nationalist' and MAGA-supporting X user responded with a post blaming Indians in tech for incompetence. He said that while working in a tech company, “everything is P1 urgent priority” is typical Indian behavior.
According to him, Indian colleagues would demand tasks be prioritized immediately, without providing facts or reasons, and would use threats and yelling to get their way. He linked this behavior to explain Gottumukkala’s actions, which were considered xenophobic and generalizing by social media users.
In response, a US-based software engineer pushed back against these stereotypes and defended Indians. He took the example of his own experience working with Indian colleagues. His team lead, his boss, and their CTO are all Indian, and they are competent, professional, and easy to work with, he said. He was named John Freeman and also said he has never encountered any Indian worker acting like the behavior described in the MAGA user’s post. Freeman said that competence is not determined by nationality and suggested that if someone keeps running into incompetent colleagues, the problem is likely with hiring choices at that specific company, not with an entire nationality.
Let's talk about Indian competence. My team lead is Indian. My boss is Indian. His boss, who hired both of us, is Indian. His boss, the CTO, is Indian. They're all pretty sharp! They know this business inside and out. They work well with others. Everyone is super friendly. They… https://t.co/CjyrH60BXl— John Freeman (@thejohnfreeman) January 31, 2026
Regarding tech hiring, Indians make up a large part of the workforce in the US, especially on H-1B visas. They occupy significant positions in Silicon Valley and are considered by Democrats as helping the economy. Meanwhile, MAGA Republicans argue that Indians take jobs from US citizens by accepting much lower salaries. This debate has been a long-standing issue in the Trump administration, with big businessmen like Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk supporting the visa scheme.
