IIT Bombay’s Parag Agrawal rebuilds after Twitter exit with $2 billion AI startup

IIT Bombay alumnus Parag Agrawal has built artificial intelligence startup Parallel Web Systems into a company valued at approximately $2 billion, roughly two years after he was removed as Twitter’s CEO following Elon Musk’s acquisition of the company.

Agrawal secured All India Rank 77 in the Joint Entrance Examination before joining IIT Bombay’s Computer Science and Engineering programme, graduating with a B.Tech. He then moved to Stanford University for a PhD in Computer Science, working as a research intern at Microsoft, Yahoo and AT&T Labs during his doctoral years.

He joined Twitter in 2011 as a distinguished software engineer, when the company had fewer than 1,000 employees, and rose to become Chief Technology Officer in 2017. In November 2021, he was appointed CEO, becoming one of the youngest CEOs in the global technology industry. His tenure ended abruptly in October 2022 when Musk completed his takeover of Twitter and replaced its top leadership.

Agrawal founded Parallel Web Systems in 2023, focused on building infrastructure for AI applications and large-scale computing systems. According to publicly reported funding information, the company has attracted significant investor interest within two years, placing it among Silicon Valley’s fast-growing AI infrastructure startups.