CEO and Dean for Northeastern University – Silicon Valley.
Chairman, Future 500
Adjunct Faculty, USC
PK is currently CEO and Dean for Northeastern University – Silicon Valley. He serves as the Chairman of Future 500, a bay area based nonprofit in the sustainability space. Until recently, he was the CEO of TiE Global, a multinational non-profit dedicated to the growth of technology and entrepreneurship. TiE is world’s largest network of technology entrepreneurs with 13,000 members in 61 cities in 18 countries. PK managed the global network and its growth, and advised the highest levels of policy makers, including heads of State, on the issues of technology and job creation.
Prior to TiE, he was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Chief Technology Officer for the State of California in 2005. During his 5 year tenure, he was responsible for many innovations that led to a very successful technology operation consisting of 800 professionals and saving $60 million of taxpayers’ money. He helped raise California’s cyber ranking from #47 to # 1 among 50 states.
He has a national reputation as a visionary. He helped pioneer the use of Internet and shaped the national and state policy in this area, dating back to 1995 when he was representing all 50 States at the Al Gore’s National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council. NIIAC was the public-private body designated by the Clinton administration to help build trust in Internet and led to facilitation and growth of eCommerce. PK had the unique distinction of having a U.S. national annual award named as the “P.K. Agarwal Award for Leadership in Electronic Government” (2000-2007). He also served as the president of National Association of State CIO’s and the founding president of National Electronic Commerce Coordinating Council (ec3) in 1999 and then again in 2008. Ec3 was a joint body of all 50 states and the federal government to help improve cyber-security, Internet, and its use in government.
He brings a unique blend of experience in the public, private, non-profit and the academic sector. He has over 20 years of senior technology executive experience. He has held positions of VP at ACS Inc (now Xerox), CIO and EVP for NIC Inc., and the CIO for the California Franchise Tax Board. He started his professional career as a Management Consultant for EDS (now HP). He is an adjunct faculty at the University of Southern California MPA program in the areas of Professional practices and IT. He also pioneered the IT Manager’s Academy for the State of California which became the spawning ground of all IT leadership. He is also a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration served on the Editorial Review Board of the very prestigious journal, Public Administration Review (PAR)
He has outstanding long term relationships with government, media, industry, as well as trade associations. He is someone who can be a visionary as well as get the job done. P.K. is an outstanding public speaker known for his insightful, visionary, and light hearted keynotes and presentations. He was listed by the Government Technology Magazine as the as the top 25 Doers, Dreamers, and Drivers in the US in 2006. He has a B.S. from IIT Delhi and Masters Degrees from UC Berkeley and California State University in Sacramento.