In a highly fast-paced world of Silicon Valley, you will always find inspiring stories of entities who rose from nothing to dominate the industry, followed by a fall and a return to the stage with far better ideas. However, only a few capture the drama of rise, fall, and reinvention like the story of Parag Agrawal. The Indian-American engineer, who was once at the helm of one of the world’s most influential social media platforms – Twitter – was fired by Elon Musk in 2022.
At 41 years now, Agrawal is using his expertise in a new venture that’s poised to reshape how artificial intelligence (AI) interacts with the web. His new startup, Parallel Web Systems, focuses on ‘agentic AI’—autonomous systems capable of conducting deep, reliable research online, addressing a gap in current AI capabilities. In just a few years, Agrawal’s venture promises gains in AI that firms like OpenAI and Google can only dream of.
Hence, if you have been eager to learn about Parag and his ventures, join us as we explore his life and achievements.
Parag Agrawal: A look into his early life and education
Born in 1984 in Ajmer, Parag’s father was a senior official in the Indian Department of Atomic Energy and his mother was a retired economics professor. Agrawal showed early signs of academic brilliance – he attended Atomic Energy Central School in Mumbai, where he excelled in his studies. At just 16 years old, he secured the 77th rank in the highly competitive IIT Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) in 2000, a feat that highlighted his talent. The following year, he won a gold medal at the International Physics Olympiad, further cementing his reputation as a young scientific star.
Agrawal pursued his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, graduating in 2005. He then moved to the United States for graduate studies at Stanford University where he earned both a master’s and a Ph.D. in Computer Science. He also did his doctoral research centering on web-related technologies and large-scale data systems.
Agrawal’s career at a glance
Agrawal’s professional journey began with internships at tech giants like Microsoft Research and Yahoo Research, where he gained hands-on experience in software engineering and data analysis. After completing his Ph.D. in 2011, he joined Twitter (now X) as a software engineer, quickly rising through the ranks due to his expertise in machine learning and AI. By 2017, he had become the company’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO), overseeing initiatives like the development of Twitter’s AI-driven recommendation engine.
In November 2021, Agrawal was promoted to CEO, succeeding co-founder Jack Dorsey. Soon after he was fired from Twitter, he founded Parallel Web Systems, a new startup with bright minds of silicon valley in his team that worked on Agentic AI systems.
Agrawal’s dramatic exit from Twitter
Agrawal’s time as CEO came to an abrupt end in October 2022, following Elon Musk‘s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter. Within hours of closing the deal, Musk fired Agrawal, along with CFO Ned Segal and policy head Vijaya Gadde. Musk cited a need for sweeping changes to the company’s direction. Security escorted Agrawal from the building without a formal transition or farewell, an event that Musk later mocked on the platform with memes.
The firing wasn’t just professional—it turned personal. Musk refused to pay Agrawal’s approximately $40 million severance package, labeling it “bogus” despite clear contractual terms for accelerated stock vesting upon termination. Agrawal, along with other executives, filed a lawsuit in March 2023, alleging Musk dismissed them to avoid payouts.
As of August 2025, the case remains pending, separate from a broader tentative settlement between Musk’s X and other laid-off employees. Musk had publicly attributed the decision to Agrawal’s alleged lack of productivity, although critics say it was part of Musk’s broader overhaul.
Reinvention through Agentic AI: Founding Parallel Web Systems
Following by the setback, Agrawal went into stealth mode, assembling a powerhouse team from companies like Google, Stripe, and Airbnb. In October 2024, he emerged with Parallel Web Systems Inc., a Palo Alto-based startup backed by $30 million from Khosla Ventures. With a 25-person team, the company has been building infrastructure for “the web’s second user: AI agents,” enabling autonomous AI systems to browse, collect, and analyse web data in real time.
With Parallel, Agrawal focused on bringing innovation to specialised research engines, all designed for varying depths and speeds. While one model could do quick 60-second queries, the other one could undertake in-depth 30-minute analyses. The platform provides confidence scores and verifiable citations to combat hallucinations common in models like GPT-5, which fails 59 per cent of the time on fresh data pulls. Benchmarks show Parallel outperforming competitors, with 58 per cent accuracy compared to GPT-5’s 41 per cent. The company has achieved a $450 million valuation and double-digit millions in revenue within its first year.
