Parag Agrawal

Parag Agrawal

Parag Agrawal is an Indian-American software engineer and tech executive best known for serving as the CEO of Twitter from November 2021 to October 2022. In late 2023, he launched a new AI-focused startup called Parallel Web Systems. 

Current Venture (2025)

Parallel Web Systems Inc.: Founded by Agrawal in late 2023, this Palo Alto-based startup builds "machine-first" search infrastructure designed for AI agents rather than human browsers.

Funding & Valuation: In November 2025, the company raised $100 million in a Series A round co-led by Kleiner Perkins and Index Ventures, bringing its post-money valuation to approximately $740 million.

Technology: The startups flagship product, the Deep Research API, reportedly outperforms leading models like GPT-5 on specific accuracy benchmarks. 

Career at Twitter

Rapid Ascent: Agrawal joined Twitter in 2011 as a software engineer. He rose to Chief Technology Officer (CTO) in 2017, where he led the companys technical strategy and the "Project Bluesky" decentralized social media initiative.

CEO Tenure: He succeeded co-founder Jack Dorsey as CEO in November 2021.

Departure: Following Elon Musks acquisition of Twitter in October 2022, Agrawal was terminated alongside other top executives. He later filed a lawsuit against Musk to recover roughly $128 million in unpaid severance. 

Education

IIT Bombay: Earned a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) in Computer Science and Engineering in 2005.

Stanford University: Completed a Ph.D. in Computer Science in 2012.

Early Achievement: Won a gold medal at the 2001 International Physics Olympiad in Turkey.Thanks for connecting business Khabri, bharat ka apna business portal which is design to boost the sales of our Indian startups.