Ruchita Agrawal

Global Head of Insights, Google for Startups Accelerator

Google

Ruchita Agrawal leads global insights and ecosystem strategy for Google for Startups Accelerator, where she built the market intelligence function from scratch and scaled it across 14 regions. Her work sits at the intersection of AI startup ecosystems and strategic intelligence — translating ground-level signals from founders, VCs, and accelerator partners into decisions that shape where Google invests and how frontier AI programs are designed. With experience launching global accelerators across APAC, EMEA and the Americas, Ruchita brings a practitioner's lens to the evolving role of insights in AI-era strategy. She writes about AI infrastructure and energy strategy on Substack and is based in New York City.

Sessions

Sep 23

1:30 PM - 2:00 PM EDT

Same AI, Different Worlds: How Global Founders Build

US use cases dominate the AI narrative. But the real signal comes from global founders navigating infrastructure gaps, regulatory friction, and resource scarcity. Using intelligence across 14 Google Accelerator programs in APAC, EMEA, and LATAM, this session explores how regional context shapes AI adoption differently—and what insights pros miss by only reading mainstream tech press.

Key Takeaways:

1. AI isn't a monolith: Regional constraints completely reshape how founders build.

2. Emerging markets use problem-first AI to bypass broken infrastructure.

3. The mainstream tech press misses the real, durable signals of global adoption.

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