Meet Parag Agarwal: Ex-Twitter CEO and IIT Bombay alumnus who was removed by Elon Musk but came back with his own AI startup valued at $2 billion

In 2006, when Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter, announced his resignation from the social media company, Parag Agarwal who had been working in the company for 10 years was promoted to replace him. The technologist who had till then remained a relatively low profile was in the limelight front and centre and the world was ready to see what he had to do.

“He’s been my choice for some time given how deeply he understands the company and its needs,” Dorsey wrote of Agrawal. “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 wrote, according to Variety.Over the years, Parag Agarwal has left the company and created his own space in the tech world, ushering in the AI boom.The beginning of a tech titanParag Agarwal was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra in 1894.

He completed his schooling at Atomic Energy Central School before securing All India Rank 77 in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and joining IIT Bombay to pursue his undergraduate degree in Computer Science and Engineering. Later, he moved to Stanford University to pursue a doctorate in Computer Science in 2005.

While pursuing his Ph.D. he also worked as a research intern in various tech giants like Microsoft, Yahoo, and AT&T Labs.In terms of his career, he joined Twitter as an Ads Engineer in October 2011. He took up the position of Distinguished Software Engineer, where he served in the same position for 6 years and 1 month.

According to Agarwal, there were fewer than 1,000 Twitter employees when he joined the company. Later in 2017, he was appointed as the Chief Technology Officer where he led the company's effort in using AI to show relevant tweets to the users. He was also put in charge of Dorsey's early Bluesky project in December 2019, well before it spun out as an independent company.

An unplanned exitWhen Agarwal became the CEO of Twitter, CEOs of global conglomerates including Stripe and SpaceX congratulated him online. Elon Musk, the world's richest billionaire back then, tweeted, "USA benefits greatly from Indian talent!" But his stint as CEO lasted for less than a year when in October 2022, Elon Musk acquired Twitter in a $44 billion deal and removed the company's top leadership, including Agarwal.The fallout didn't end there.

Agrawal and other dismissed executives sued Musk, alleging he had failed to pay roughly $128 million in severance they believed they were owed. Musk eventually settled the case for undisclosed terms in October 2025 — almost exactly three years after the firing. A tech pioneerWith his work experience and grit, Agarwal could have joined any other established technology firm.

But he took his sweet time and launched his own AI startup Parallel Web Systems in 2023. The startup focuses on building infrastructure that supports artificial intelligence workloads and next-generation computing platforms.The startup has raised a $100 million Series B at a $2 billion valuation led by Sequoia, reported Tech Crunch.

Created to help AI agents search the web, the company has 50 employees. In a conversation with WSJ, Agarwal said he plans to use its latest cash infusion to build out a sales and marketing team and enhance the research and development function.AI agents may need to search the web for tasks like investment and risk research, processing insurance claims, and reviewing government contracts, often called “deep research.” While humans usually use a browser for these tasks, AI agents can do them faster and at a much larger scale, Agrawal said.For Indians looking to expand into the tech sector with the looming AI boom, Agarwal's story serves as an example that even the greatest lows can become the foundation for the biggest highs.Get the latest lifestyle news and trends.

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