Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey announced that he is stepping down on Monday, paving the way for Indian-origin Parag Agrawal to take over the reins. As the news spread, it left desi Twitter in a frenzy, and memes soon flooded the internet. It was revealed that the company’s board has been preparing for Dorsey’s departure since last year.
Agrawal, 37, who served as the chief technical officer of the company, soon dominated trends across the world. The fact that he is the latest Indian-origin person to head a major US-based tech company was also noted by many on the internet. Agrawal joins a distinguished list of Indian-American tech bosses, including IBM chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna, Microsoft chairman and CEO Satya Nadella, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and Adobe chairman, president and CEO Shantanu Narayen.
As many entrepreneurs and thinkers weighed in to talk about US’ immigration policies and the opportunity that good education provides, congratulatory messages poured in for the IIT Bombay alumnus.
Check out some of the reactions here:
This is one pandemic that we are happy & proud to say originated in India. It’s the Indian CEO Virus… No vaccine against it. 😊 https://t.co/Dl28r7nu0u
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) November 29, 2021
USA benefits greatly from Indian talent!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 29, 2021
What do MicroSoft, Google, Adobe, IBM, Micron, Master Card and now Twitter have in common?
All are led by CEOs who grew up in India!
Congratulations to @paraga who’s been chosen as the CEO of Twitter
— KTR (@KTRTRS) November 30, 2021
Time to additionally remember that people who were born in India face an immigration policy that asks them to wait for a lifetime to be permanent residents. They thrive regardless. https://t.co/XrihYRrRzz
— Jaana Dogan ヤナ ドガン (@rakyll) November 29, 2021
Unpopular opinion: Indian CEOs of MNCs is NOT a sign of brain drain which happened decades back. Today it’s a sign of how Indians have built reputations for corporate smartness. This further fuels respect and opportunities for India, Indians and Indian MNCs & startups globally.
— Vaitheeswaran K (@vaitheek) November 30, 2021
Parag Agrawal, another INDIAN born American has taken over as CEO of Twitter. Google. Microsoft, they lead almost everything. So much to learn from India.
— Dr. Dípò Awójídé (@OgbeniDipo) November 29, 2021
From Agarwal Sweets to Agarwal Tweets, what phenomenal journey! #ParagAgrawal
— Ra_Bies 2.0 (@Ra_Bies) November 29, 2021
Twitter logo after an Agrawal became its CEO pic.twitter.com/XM4by0gdao
— Neeche Se Topper (@NeecheSeTopper) November 29, 2021
#ParagAgrawal to all Indians after becoming the CEO of Twitter: pic.twitter.com/tYT7PhOnfu
— Kaavas Anand (@KaavasAnand) November 29, 2021
#ParagAgrawal #JackDorsey #TwitterCEO
Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai welcoming Parag Agrawal in the Indian CEOs Club of Software firms : pic.twitter.com/B8J2k1Pxsz
— g0v!ñD $#@®mA (@rishu_1809) November 29, 2021
Everyone congratulating #ParagAgrawal on becoming the new CEO of twitter
Meanwhile Indians: “Agrawal hai toh… pic.twitter.com/nyqPt4tQ5d
— प्रशंसा🔪 (@bhakkk_lol) November 29, 2021
Twitter users asking #ParagAgrawal to fix bugs and glitches, *le parag agrawal: pic.twitter.com/yqiw3FnQZE
— Deera (@Deerahahaha) November 29, 2021
Indians to new CEO of Twitter! pic.twitter.com/Vil6MbzXCN
— Godman Chikna (@Madan_Chikna) November 30, 2021
Indians welcoming new CEO of twitter pic.twitter.com/x0xfcFSzM8
— OM (@GrilledMomos) November 30, 2021
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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.