Indian-origin Teen, Son Of IIT JEE Topper, Wins Gold At World's Toughest Programming Olympiad

A teenager of Indian origin residing in the United States, Agastya Goyal, has achieved outstanding success by winning the world’s toughest programming competition. He earned his second gold medal at the 36th International Olympiad in Informatics, held in Egypt, securing fourth place overall in the highly competitive event for high school students.

Goyal scored 438.97 out of 600 in the competition, while China’s Kangyang Zhou took first place with a perfect score of 600. In total, 34 students were awarded gold medals in the Olympiad. Another Indian, Kshitij Sodani, also made a mark by securing the 21st position. Goyal’s accomplishment highlights his exceptional programming skills and place him among the top young talents in the field.

Agastya Goyal’s excellence seems to be a generational trait that has been passed down to him from his father. His father Ashish Goyal, currently a professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University, has a remarkable academic and professional journey. In 1990, he achieved the prestigious top rank in the IIT Joint Entrance Examination (IIT JEE). Following this achievement, Goyal pursued his undergraduate studies in B.Tech from IIT Kanpur, one of India’s leading technology institutes.

After his successful stint at IIT Kanpur, Goyal advanced his academic career by earning a PhD from Stanford University, an institution renowned for its contributions to innovation and research in various fields, including engineering and management. Ashish Goyal, originally from Uttar Pradesh, has made significant contributions to both academia and industry.

His notable achievements include designing Twitter’s monetization model, an essential aspect of the platform’s business strategy. Goyal’s expertise spans multiple areas of research, including computer science, computational social science, computer networks, theoretical computer science, molecular self-assembly, algorithms, and game theory. His son, Agatsya, reflects his father’s legacy, and the family maintains a deep connection to both India and the academic world of the United States.