What do you know about the new Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal?

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By Salim Yunusa

Agrawal, an alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, was appointed as Twitter CTO on March 8, 2018.

Parag Agrawal, the Chief Technology Officer of Twitter, is now taking over from Jack Dorsey as the Chief Executive Officer. Dorsey will step down from his role, and the company’s board has been preparing for his departure since last year, according to news agency Reuters.

Agrawal, an alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, was appointed Twitter CTO on March 8, 2018. He succeeded Adam Messinger, who left the company in December 2016. Agrawal’s appointment was announced internally in October 2017.

His early work on the use of artificial intelligence to increase the relevance of tweets on Twitter timelines was well recognised.

Agrawal joined Twitter in October 2011 as a Distinguished Software Engineer after completing his PhD in Computer Science from Stanford University. While studying at Stanford, he worked as a research intern for Microsoft, Yahoo!, and AT&T Labs.

Agrawal completed his schooling from the Atomic Energy Central School.

Taking to Twitter, Agrawal thanked Dorsey for his continued mentorship and friendship. Further, he thanked the entire team for their trust and support.

Deep gratitude for @jack and our entire team, and so much excitement for the future. Here’s the note I sent to the company. Thank you all for your trust and support 💙 https://t.co/eNatG1dqH6 pic.twitter.com/liJmTbpYs1

— Parag Agrawal (@paraga) November 29, 2021

“Our purpose has never been more important. Our people and culture are unlike anything in the world. There is no limit to what we can do together,” Agrawal wrote in a note shared on his Twitter handle.

He added that “at the all-hands tomorrow we’ll have lots of time for Q&A and discussion”.

“The world is watching us right now, even more than they have before. Lots of people are going to have lots of different views and opinions about today’s news. It is because they care about Twitter and our future, and it’s a signal that the work we do here matters. Let’s show the world Twitter’s full potential,” Agrawal said

Here is Parag’s brief profile in 5 points.

1- Parag, aged 45, is an alumnus of IIT Mumbai. He did his bachelors in engineering (BS) from here. Then he moved to the US for further studies, with his doctorate coming from Stanford University. He did his schooling from Atomic Energy Central School.

2- Parag joined Twitter in 2011. Before that, he briefly worked at Microsoft, AT&T and Yahoo. In all three companies, his work was mostly research-oriented. Initially, at Twitter, he worked on ad-related products, but gradually he also dabbled in artificial intelligence. In 2017, when he was promoted to the role of Twitter CTO, here is what the company said in a statement: “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.”

3- Parag is apparently well-liked by outgoing CEO Jack Dorsey. In fact, Dorsey hired him in 2011. In his email on Monday sent to all Twitter employees, Dorsey wrote: “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.”

4- At Twitter, as CTO, Parag has been instrumental in “Twitter’s technical strategy and overseeing machine learning and AI across the consumer, revenue, and science teams.”

5- Although he has been in a leadership position at Twitter for a while, Parag was not as well-known as Sundar Pichai or Satya Nadella were when they became CEO. Parag acknowledges this in his email that he sent to Twitter employees on Monday. He 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.”

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