Parag Agrawal is an Indian-American technical executive who was chosen as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Twitter on 29 November 2021. He is considered the youngest one who held the position of CEO after the stepping down of the former CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey. Parag Agrawal was the in-house candidate of Twitter who replaced Jack Dorsey after actively searching for candidates for months. Parag was the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Twitter before being appointed as the CEO of the company.
Wiki/Biography
Parag Agrawal was born in 1981 (age 37 years; as of 2021) in Kharghar, Mumbai.
A childhood picture of Parag Agrawal
He did his schooling at Atomic Energy Central School, Narora, Uttar Pradesh. In 2005, Parag Agrawal completed his B.Tech. in Computer Science Engineering from IIT Mumbai. In 2012, he received a PhD degree in Computer Science at Stanford University. [1]
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 6′
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Parents & Siblings
His father is a former employee of the atomic energy sector, and his mother is a retired school teacher.
Wife & Children
His wife’s name is Vineeta Agrawal, and she is employed at Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital company in California. The couple has a son named Ansh.
Parag Agrawal with his wife Vineeta Agrawal and Son Ansh
Career
Parag Agrawal worked in the Research Team of Microsoft, Yahoo, and AT&T Labs, Inc. from 2006 to 2010. In 2011, he was appointed as the Distinguished Software Engineer at Twitter where he was responsible for the ad-related products of Twitter. He then received the opportunity to work on Artificial Intelligence for some time. Parag Agrawal was elevated to the post of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Twitter in 2017 where he succeeded Adam Massinger. On being appointed as the CTO, Twitter penned a note about Parag that read as,
In his capacity as CTO, he’s focused on scaling a cohesive machine learning and AI approach across our consumer and revenue product and infrastructure teams.”
Parag Agrawal is regarded as the top engineer of Twitter Group, who was given the responsibility of the new products and technologies of Twitter’s group TAG when he was the CTO of the company. In 2019, a decentralised social media project of Twitter titled Bluesky was also operated under the leadership of Parag Agrawal. According to Twitter, apart from being the CTO of Twitter, Parag was also instrumental in its artificial intelligence and machine learning. Twitter penned,
Twitter’s technical strategy and overseeing machine learning and AI across the consumer, revenue, and science teams.”
On 29 November 2021, Parag was appointed as the CEO of Twitter after ten years of work experience in Twitter after replacing the former CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey. Parag was recommended by Jack Dorsey for this position, and Jack sent an email to all the employees of Twitter soon after nominating Parag as the CEO. He penned,
The board ran a rigorous process considering all options and unanimously appointed Parag. He’s been my choice for some time, given how deeply he understands the company and its needs. Parag has been behind every critical decision that helped turn this company around. He’s curious, probing, rational, creative, demanding, self-aware, and humble. He leads with heart and soul and is someone I learn from daily. My trust in him as our CEO is bone deep.”
Parag Agrawal replied to Jack Dorsey’s email and wrote,
I recognize that some of you know me well, some just a little, and some not at all. Let’s consider ourselves at the beginning-the first step towards our future. I’m sure you have lots of questions and there’s a lot for us to discuss. At the all-hands tomorrow we’ll have lots of time for Q&A and discussion. It will be the beginning of ongoing open, direct conversations I wish for us to have together.”
Facts/Trivia
- Parag Agrawal follows a non-vegetarian diet.
A post Instagrammed by Parag while mentioning his food habit
- Parag often likes to drink alcohol and sometimes posts pictures of his drinking on social media.
A post Instagrammed by Parag while drinking wine
- Parag Agrawal is a gold medal winner of the Physics Olympiad which were organised in Istanbul in 2001.
Parag Agrawal with teammates in Istanbul after winning the gold medal
- Parag Agrawal began working at Twitter in 2011, and simultaneously, he was completing his PhD at Stanford University. He was forced by his PhD guide Jennifer Widom to complete his studies while working. Parag shifted to the US in 2005.
- Parag Agrawal secured 77 All India Rank in Joint Entrance Exams (JEE) in 2000. He then got direct admission in Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Mumbai and passed out in 2005. Later, he pursued a doctorate degree at Stanford University and completed it in 2012.
- Parag Agrawal has exceptional skills in dealing with large databases and excellent command of mathematics. The New York Times in its report in November 2021 considered Parag Agrawal as the spiritual successor of Jack Dorsey. It penned,
Just like Jack Dorsey, Parag too is “quiet, polite, deeply technical and enthused about an internet where power and control are given back to users.”
One of his colleagues and an employee of Twitter stated about Parag,
Parag is a “pragmatic” engineer and leader.”
- In November 2021, the official statement of Twitter stated that Parag would receive an annual remuneration of $1 million along with a $12.5 million stock compensation.
- Parag Agrawal is a childhood school friend of Indian playback singer Shreya Ghoshal. She greeted Parag Agrawal on his Twitter handle when he became the CEO of Twitter.
Shreya Ghoshal’s Twitter post while congratulating Parag Agrawal
Parag Agrawal (extreme right) with his wife while posing with Shreya Ghoshal (second from left) and her husband
- The successful career story of Parag Agrawal was shared by various renowned newspapers in their articles soon after his appointment as the CEO of Twitter.
The life story of Parag Agrawal covered by the Times of India
- On 30 November 2021, Parag Agrawal was trapped and trolled by several conservatives on his Twitter account when he achieved this prestigious position in the Twitter Group. He was dragged for responding to a Tweet of Aasif Mandvi in 2010 in a derogatory manner. [2] In 2010, Parag Tweeted,
If they are not gonna make a distinction between Muslims and extremists, then why should I distinguish between white people and racists.”
- In his leisure time, Parag Agrawal loves watching cricket.
Parag Agrawal (arms raised) while celebrating the victory of the Indian cricket team
