In order to build out its machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities, Jack Dorsey turned to an engineer, Parag Agrawal.
Mr. Agrawal was tapped by Mr. Dorsey to help with the company's infrastructure.
Mr. Agrawal was brought in by Mr. Dorsey to help with the future of the service.
On Monday, Mr. Dorsey stepped down as chief executive and Mr. Agrawal was named the new leader.
The chief technology officer, Mr. Agrawal, is not well known to the public, with some people saying they were surprised by his appointment. The India-born engineer has been involved in many of the company's biggest strategic initiatives. The board had run a rigorous search for a new chief executive and had unanimously endorsed Mr. Agrawal, Mr. Dorsey said in a statement.
He has been my choice for a long time, given how deeply he understands the company and its needs.
In his message to employees on Monday, Mr. Agrawal emphasized his knowledge of the company and his kinship with its workers.
In an email, Mr. Agrawal said he joined the company 10 years ago when there were less than 1,000 employees. I have seen the ups and downs, the challenges and obstacles, the wins and the mistakes, and I have walked in your shoes. Above all else, I see the incredible impact of social media, our continued progress, and the exciting opportunities ahead of us.
Mr. Agrawal is the latest India-born executive to take over a major American technology company. Many executives of South Asian descent are succeeding the company's founder. The elevation of Mr. Agrawal was considered the definition of the American dream by some in Silicon Valley.
Patrick Collison, chief executive of Stripe, said on Monday that it was wonderful to watch the success of Indians in the technology world and a good reminder of the opportunity America offers to immigrants.
Mr. Agrawal has his work cut out for him. The company, which is based in San Francisco, faces challenges such as placating activist investors and calming an agitated Congress about its power, divisiveness and potential to censor free speech. Mr. Agrawal is charged with carrying out Mr. Dorsey's vision for decentralizing the service so that it can be used by its users.
Some tech watchers said that Mr. Agrawal was a kind of spiritual successor to Mr. Dorsey.
Mike Masnick, the founder of the technology news site Techdirt, said that Mr. Agrawal takes a big-picture view of what should be in the world.
Mr. Agrawal studied computer science and engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology. He moved to the United States in 2005 to pursue a PhD in computer science. He joined a research group focused on databases, which allow computers to store and mine large amounts of digital information.
Mr. Agrawal was the only student who stood out for his strong grasp of the math and theory that underpins computer science, according to his thesis adviser.
She said in a phone interview that it can take a long way to have both of those skills. If you are good at theory, you can make decisions.
Mr. Agrawal was a good fit for the company because of his focus on databases. He joined the company in 2011 and became a key member of the engineering team that oversaw the company's advertising technologies.
He was told to finish his thesis.
The ads team was among the first to use machine learning, a mathematical system that can learn skills by analyzing data. Mr. Agrawal and his colleagues used these techniques to develop ways to target ads to particular users, which helped raise revenues and his profile.
He became a member of the T.A.G., a team of top engineers who reviewed and improved the company's projects that were under development.
Krishna Gade said that Mr. Agrawal was on the list of top engineers. He had a lot of influence on the engineering direction of the company. Mr. Gade left the social networking site.
Mr. Agrawal was one of the people who helped re-focus the company on the timeliness of its service. Mr. Agrawal was promoted to chief technology officer.
Kevin Quennesson, who oversaw the machine learning efforts at the time, said that he would be called pragmatic. He built strong internal relationships over the last decade.
Mr. Agrawal has kept a low profile. He worked behind the scenes to rebuild the technical infrastructure. The company couldn't introduce new products and services as quickly as it wanted because of that. The shift to using cloud computing services was helped by Mr. Agrawal.
Mr. Dorsey said that in the year 2020 he would fund an independent research initiative to create a new kind of social media that would allow users to make their own decisions. Mr. Agrawal was tapped to oversee the contributions of the social media company.
In an interview with Bluesky in June, Mr. Agrawal said that they believe empowering more individuals and third parties could help solve problems for communities and help more people. A lot of people want to be part of the solution and now the only way is for them to figure out how to work at a company like ours. That is part of the thinking and reasoning behind the choice.
Mr. Agrawal said at the time that he wanted to consider how the service's algorithms lift content instead of what content is removed from it.
He said that their role has changed from hosting a bunch of content to guiding people toward what they are interested in. How does something get attention and in what context? 10 years ago, what do you host or not host was a problem.
Mr. Agrawal has managed the integration of cryptocurrencies into the platform. He supports efforts to be transparent about the mistakes that were made by the company.
A person familiar with the succession process said that Mr. Agrawal's emphasis on product development appealed to people who believed that the company had moved too slowly to introduce new products. His appointment could help the company mirror the success of other companies that have tapped engineering leaders to oversee their turnaround efforts.
Mr. Agrawal will be paid an annual salary of $1 million, plus bonuses, as well as restricted stock units and performance-based stock units valued at $12.5 million, according to a company filing on Monday.
Mr. Dorsey said that paragliding has been behind every critical decision that helped turn the company around. My trust in him as our C.E.O. is very deep.
