Ruchita Agrawal
New York,NY
Summary
Strategic global leader with 14 years of experience across product strategy, global operations, product sales. Former software engineer with deep expertise in scaling 0—1 initiatives and building new functions from the ground up. Built Google for Startups Accelerator’s global research function, launching 0—1 initiatives that advanced economic opportunity and tech access across emerging markets. Contributed to the global launch of Plus Codes, a Maps product addressing location inequity, and worked on AI product strategy in a stretch capacity at DeepMind. Previously managed a $500M+ book of business in Google Ads. Known for bridging product and operations, aligning stakeholders, and delivering clarity and impact in complex environments.
Overview
14
14
years of professional experience
Work History
Head of Global Research & Insights
Google for Startups Accelerator, Google Cloud
09.2019 - Current
- Entrepreneurial thinking: Identified a critical gap in strategic startup intelligence while collaborating with the Accelerator team; independently launched a pilot in India, aligning internal stakeholders (Google Pay, Corp Dev, AI/Healthcare) and external leaders (VCs, founders) around fintech and healthcare as priority verticals
- Global operations Lead: Following the pilot’s success, was hired to build and lead the Research & Insights function globally—managing vendor analyst teams to produce market ecosystem reports and drive strategic startup sourcing, shaping ecosystem strategy across 14 Accelerator regions
- AI strategy: Led market insights and startup sourcing for AI first Accelerators in India, US and Europe. Startups sourced by the team have raised $3B globally, including Loft, which became Brazil’s 12th unicorn with a $2.2B valuation following participation in the Brazil Accelerator
- Global program launches: Led startup ecosystem strategy for launch of Japan's first AI Accelerator in 2020, working with cross functional teams: AI Research, Marketing, Japan exec leadership
- Vendor management: Lead a team of vendor research analysts across AMER, APAC, EMEA for startup operations. Responsible for contract negotiations and management
- Executive decision making: Delivered executive-level analyses on global startup ecosystems and sector trends, including a country prioritization framework adopted by Director+ leadership to guide Accelerator investment and expansion; directly influenced the launch of the Southeast Asia Accelerator in 2020, reversing its prior deprioritization through data-backed strategy
- Org strategy: Led a cross-functional research initiative on online gaming monetization in India, identifying a $1B+ opportunity to support indie game developers; findings informed India’s One Google Games strategy
- Executive engagement: Market insights enabled the launch of the global Indie Games Accelerator by Google Play and formalized a collaboration framework between Developer Ecosystem and Developer Marketing teams, aligning stakeholders across Play BizDev, Marketing, Sales, Play, and Partnerships to drive long-term ecosystem development, sponsored by India VP as a 2023 strategic priority
Product Strategy Consultant (Stretch Project)
Plus Codes, Google Maps
01.2022 - 08.2022
- E2E Product launch: Contributed to the end-to-end launch of Plus Codes, a Maps incubator product providing free, open-source digital addresses to improve social and economic inclusion in under-addressed markets; supported the product’s first global launch in India
- Product incubation: Shaped early product strategy for self-addressing use cases in under-addressed markets; developed a technical feasibility framework to evaluate integration opportunities across Google’s addressing solutions (Maps, SDKs, libraries), guiding roadmap planning and partnership strategy for Plus Codes expansion in India
- Cross org alignment: Led cross-org alignment efforts with Chrome Autofill, Android, StreetView, and Geo Enterprise teams to evaluate technical compatibility and infrastructure dependencies
- Release tracking: Streamlined launch readiness through creation of a consolidated release tracker for Google Maps for Mobile, reducing complexity and increasing transparency across the Geo team’s planning process improve feature prioritization across the org
- Product GTM: Supported competitive and go-to-market analysis for India, and positioning the product’s digital addressing narrative for a potential partnership with the India postal service
Product Sales Lead, Search Ads 360, Americas
Google Ads
06.2016 - 08.2019
- Account Management: Managed a $500M+ annual portfolio for SA360 Americas, leading CXO-level client relationships and coordinating cross-functional teams across Sales, Engineering, Fortune 500 clients and ad agencies
- Product Roadmap: Selected as 1 of 5 global Account Managers to represent Sales at SA360 Immersion Day 2018, driving alignment between Product, UX, and Sales on roadmap priorities and platform enhancements
- Feature prioritization: Co-led SA360 feature prioritization process for the Americas, working closely with Product and Engineering to translate client needs into product roadmap inputs
- Revenue management: Secured $120M in new revenue through a competitive win with an automotive client, leading a multi-team technical assessment and RFP process to position SA360 against competitors Adobe and Marin
- Annual planning: Supported tax client’s seasonal surge by leading cross-org planning with Sales, PM, and Engineering, resulting in 24.5% YoY increase in spend
- New business: Led new business development and contract negotiations with a key agency partner, resulting in $100M+ incremental revenue and SA360 becoming the agency’s preferred platform
Product Specialist, Large Customer Sales, Travel, AU/NZ
Google Ads
02.2014 - 06.2016
- Consulting: Managed a $60M annual book of business for key Travel vertical accounts in AU/NZ, providing ongoing digital marketing consultation across Search, Display, and YouTube
- Sales strategy: Collaborated with Ads leadership on account planning and sales strategy execution; led client and agency workshops to drive adoption of new Google Ads products and features
Business Technology Analyst
Deloitte Consulting LLP
06.2012 - 01.2014
Business Analyst
Mu Sigma Business Solutions Pvt Ltd
12.2011 - 05.2012
Education
Machine Learning Specialization -
Deep Learning.ai & Stanford Online
10.2025
Bachelor of Technology - Information & Communication Technology
Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information & Communication Technology
Gandhinagar, India01.2011
Skills
- Artificial intelligence strategy
- GTM Strategy
- Competitive Intelligence
- Executive Communication
- Leadership
- Product Operations
- Consulting
- Market Research
Business Role
Head of Global Research & Insights, Google for Startups Accelerator
AWARDS
- Spot bonus (awarded to top 2% of all Cloud employees) For driving impact on Accelerator Insights, from David McLaughlin, Director, Developer Ecosystem
- Spot bonus (awarded to top 2% of all Sales employees) Global Performance case study on Search Ads 360, from Jason Spero, VP, Global Performance Solutions
- Australia Sales Leader Award (awarded to 1 person every quarter across the AUNZ Sales org) For driving mobile adoption across AUNZ travel clients from Mel Silva, Managing Director, Go-To-Market Strategy & Operations, APAC
LEADERSHIP CITATIONS
- David McLaughlin, Director, Developer Ecosystem: “Thank you for your tireless efforts and dedication towards making the Accelerator Insights program a truly unique deliverable. Your contributions ensure that stakeholders across the company benefit from actionable insights and a better understanding of developers and startups across the globe.”
- Auriel Wright, Senior PM, Imagen, Deepmind: “Ruchita has consistently gone above and beyond in her project contribution on Imagen, demonstrating exceptional analytical skills and a proactive approach. She’s been instrumental in translating complex data into actionable insights and driving process improvements. Her dedication and hard work have made a significant positive impact on our team and projects!”
Timeline
Product Strategy Consultant (Stretch Project)
Plus Codes, Google Maps
01.2022 - 08.2022
Head of Global Research & Insights
Google for Startups Accelerator, Google Cloud
09.2019 - Current
Product Sales Lead, Search Ads 360, Americas
Google Ads
06.2016 - 08.2019
Product Specialist, Large Customer Sales, Travel, AU/NZ
Google Ads
02.2014 - 06.2016
Business Technology Analyst
Deloitte Consulting LLP
06.2012 - 01.2014
Business Analyst
Mu Sigma Business Solutions Pvt Ltd
12.2011 - 05.2012
Bachelor of Technology - Information & Communication Technology
Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information & Communication Technology
Machine Learning Specialization -
Deep Learning.ai & Stanford Online