Mumbai-based entrepreneur Kanan Bahl hired a candidate from a Tier-2 city for a client-facing role despite the individual having poor English skills, citing his outstanding technical abilities as the primary factor.
Bahl encouraged the employee to communicate with clients in Hindi, noting that the hire has since become his most successful team member, challenging the notion that English fluency is a barometer for intelligence.
The entrepreneur's post on X regarding the hiring decision sparked a wider social media discussion on August 20, 2026, about language bias in corporate recruitment and the prioritization of technical capability over linguistic polish.