Ashutosh Roy

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer eGain

Last Reviewed: September 25, 2026

Executive Summary

Ashutosh “Ashu” Roy is co-founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of eGain, a Nasdaq-listed company in Sunnyvale, California, that sells an AI-driven knowledge management platform used in customer service, employee support and AI automation. He has run eGain since it was founded in September 1997, nearly three decades, and has also been its President since 2003. He is by far its largest shareholder, owning about a third of the stock. eGain was his third company: before it he co-founded Parsec Technologies, a call centre business in New Delhi, and WhoWhere?, an internet services company, after starting his career as a software engineer at Digital Equipment Corporation.

Career Highlights

• Co-founder of eGain; Chief Executive Officer and a director since September 1997, President since October 2003, and Chairman of the board.
• Beneficial owner of about 34% of eGain’s stock as of 30 June 2026.
• Leads a company that Gartner named a Leader in its first Magic Quadrant for Customer Service Knowledge Management Systems in July 2026, according to eGain’s annual report.
• Co-founder and Chairman of WhoWhere? Inc., an internet services company, from May 1995 to April 1997.
• Co-founder of Parsec Technologies, a call centre company in New Delhi, where he worked from June 1994 to April 1995.
• Software engineer at Digital Equipment Corporation from August 1988 to August 1992.
• Holds a BS in computer science from IIT Delhi, a master’s in computer science from Johns Hopkins University and an MBA from Stanford University.

Professional Journey

Roy studied computer science at the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, and took a master’s degree in computer science at Johns Hopkins University. From August 1988 to August 1992 he worked as a software engineer at Digital Equipment Corporation. He also holds an MBA from Stanford University.

He then began starting companies. In 1994 he co-founded Parsec Technologies, a call centre company based in New Delhi. From May 1995 to April 1997 he was Chairman of WhoWhere? Inc., an internet services company he co-founded. In September 1997 he co-founded eGain, which was incorporated in Delaware that month, and became its Chief Executive Officer and a director. He added the title of President in October 2003. The board has chosen to keep the CEO and Chairman roles combined. It says this makes the best use of his knowledge of the company and its industry.

eGain describes itself as powering AI-driven knowledge management for the enterprise. Its SaaS platform gathers a company’s knowledge in one place and uses it to give reliable answers to customers, employees and AI agents. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale and also operates in the United Kingdom and India. Its customers are mainly large enterprises and government organisations in North America and Europe. In July 2026 Gartner named it a Leader in the first Magic Quadrant for Customer Service Knowledge Management Systems. In the fiscal year to 30 June 2026 it reported revenue of $91.1 million, up from $88.4 million, of which $85.3 million came from SaaS. Roy owns about 34% of the stock, and the company tells investors in its annual report that he can exercise significant control over matters requiring stockholder approval.

He has said publicly that the value of AI lies in how it is applied. In a 2024 interview with destinationCRM he said, “AI isn’t a differentiator. AI is a commodity. What is differentiated is how you apply it in the context of the business environment,” and argued that companies should rethink their whole value chains rather than add AI to existing processes.

Education

Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi

Bachelor of Science, Computer Science

Johns Hopkins University

Master’s degree, Computer Science

Stanford University

MBA