India’s IITs are renowned globally and many IITians are working in top positions in multinational companies. One of the achievers is Parag Agrawal who served as X’s (formerly Twitter) CEO. After being ousted from the company, he ventured into entrepreneurship and founded an AI startup. 

Former CEO

Parag Agrawal gained significant attention when he assumed the role of X’s CEO. During the same time, this social media networking platform was bought by Elon Musk, one of the world’s richest billionaires. Subsequently, Parag lost his job and had to leave the company. He was to be compensated with Rs 400 crore as severance pay, but this payment was not fulfilled. 

Funding for startup

After Twitter, Parag Agrawal embarked on his entrepreneurial journey. Notably, First Round Capital, Idex Ventures, and Khosla Ventures have expressed interest in investing in his startup. Some reports suggest that he has accumulated a funding of Rs 250 crore for his venture. Specific details about this venture are not available but according to media reports the startup is developing a software aimed at assisting developers in creating large language models. 

Early life and education

Parag Agrawal was born in Barmer, Rajasthan. His father, Ram Gopal Agrawal is retired from BARC, and his mother, Shashi is a retired professor. While his parents live in Mumbai, Parag lives in the United States with his family. He earned a BTech degree from the prestigious IIT Bombay in 2005 and then pursued a PhD in Computer Science from Stanford University.

Journey at Twitter

Parag joined Twitter in 2011, serving at various positions. He worked as Chief Technology Officer in 2017 before assuming the role of CEO in 2021. However, his tenure at Twitter came to an end following Elon Musk’s acquisition of the platform in 2022.