Dr. Nikhil Agarwal is India’s foremost Innovation and Policy expert. He holds twin charge of CEO FIRST (Foundation for Innovation & Research in Science & Technology) and AIIDE (Artificial Intelligence and Innovation Driven Entrepreneurship) center at IIT Kanpur. He held the additional charge of CEO of C3i Hub (Cybersecurity and Cybersecurity of Critical Infrastructure) between 2021-and 22.
In 2018, he was appointed as Vice Chairman, Mahaashmita Innovation Livelihood Accelerator Program (MILAP), Govt of Maharashtra – a program in joint collaboration with MSRLM and FICCI. In 2014, the Indian Prime Minister urged the Indian diaspora to return to the country to serve the motherland. Dr. Agarwal responded to the call and returned from the UK to join Govt of Andhra Pradesh as Chief Executive Officer, Andhra Pradesh Innovation Society (CEO, APIS) to kickstart the state-wide innovation agenda between 2015-2017. He was involved in developing large-scale innovation projects such as the cyber security innovation park, rural innovation labs, and incubation centers. He was given the responsibility of reinvigorating the startup ecosystem and went on to set up an INR 1 billion startup fund to name a few. He is instrumental in forging important national and international relationships for the state. Dr. Agarwal has founded businesses and advised firms on strategic matters in the last 20 years of his career.
He has worked with global multinationals like Cadbury’s and Zensar (RPG Group). He has lectured at leading global universities like Virginia Tech, University of Bradford, University of Edinburgh, and the University of Cambridge in visiting capacity. His interviews and work have been extensively covered in international media including HBR, Forbes, CNN Money, BBC Radio, and The New York Times to name a few. He has served on many international think tanks and held leadership positions in global organizations. He has served as a high-level advisor to United Nations Global Alliance on ICT & Development (UNGAID) between 2008-12; a board member at World-Entrepreneurship-Forum and Open Mind Foundation respectively. He was the first Asian to be elected as Co-Chair of the prestigious Internet Society Advisory Council (ISOC-AC) for 2008-10.
In 2017, he was nominated as a Fellow of IC2 Institute, the University of Texas at Austin. Prof. Agarwal has traveled extensively around the world and worked with global institutions, corporations, and multinationals. He has published over 40 research papers, conference publications, and articles in top journals. He writes a column “Snake Charmer” in leading national dailies. He founded EntrepreneurCafe.org one of the world’s largest entrepreneurship networks. Entrepreneur Café is a global movement spread across 110 cities and six continents, connecting over 45,000 entrepreneurs. Dr. Agarwal has founded businesses and advised firms on strategic matters in the last 20 years of his career. He has lectured at leading universities like Virginia Tech Polytechnic & State University, the University of Bradford, and the University of Cambridge. His articles, interviews, and work has been extensively covered in international media including Harvard Business Review Blog, Forbes, CNN Money, BBC Radio, and The New York Times.
Dr. Nikhil in his recent book “The Startup Masterplan” talks about building a successful business from scratch. Starting up a business is one of the most interesting journeys you can take up in your life; it’s your ‘only shot’ and a ‘big risk’. It can be stressful, chaotic, and filled with many sleepless nights, but the payout is always worth it if you do your job right. The book discusses how to keep your startup running and stop it from falling into the pitfalls. The book was ranked #1 in the global new release by Amazon in the small business category.
Dr. Nikhil Agarwal is an alumnus of the University of Cambridge and the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom. Dr. Nikhil has an interest in martial arts – he is a co-recipient of ‘The Guinness World Record’ in Taekwondo in 2017. In his free time (or when he is flying), he likes to read and watch shows on Netflix.
