I moved to San Francisco to work in AI. Living here requires sacrifices — I gave up normalcy to gain access.

Ahmed Ahres says living in San Francisco makes him feel like anything is possible. Ahmed Ahres Ahmed Ahres moved from London to San Francisco on an O-1 Visa in 2025. Though living in San Francisco has boosted his ambition, he has felt pressure to always be thriving. Ahres says it's difficult to escape talks about tech, but relationships are his key to boundaries. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Ahmed Ahres, a 27-year-old Product & GTM at a tech startup based in San Fra...