ALLEN Digital’s first CEO Abha Maheshwari departs after two-year stint
Abha Maheshwari, who led ALLEN’s digital arm from its early days, has stepped down, announcing she will take a short break before her next role.
Abha Maheshwari, chief executive officer of ALLEN Digital, has stepped down after more than two years in the role.
“...I’m moving on from Allen, closing an incredible chapter filled with learning, growth, and impact,” she wrote in a LinkedIn post, noting that she’s “taking a short break before stepping into my next chapter.”
Maheshwari, a former Meta executive, was appointed in May 2023 as the first CEO of test-prep institute ALLEN’s digital arm.
Her appointment followed ALLEN’s $600 million funding from Bodhi Tree Systems and the launch of ALLEN Digital in 2022, as interest in AI was beginning to build.
A product development veteran, she spent a decade at Facebook (now Meta) working on products and partnerships, and played a key role in building and scaling Instagram Shopping. She brought this experience to ALLEN Digital, supported by a strong team.
“When I first joined, we were a small team of 15 to 20 working out of a WeWork, scrappy, ambitious, and committed to building something meaningful. Two years later, I leave behind a buzzing office filled with passionate people, bold ideas, and the same deep sense of purpose, now backed by a much larger and stronger team,” she noted in her post.
The leadership team includes CPO Ankit Khurana, who spent a decade at Flipkart before joining ALLEN’s product team; CTO Saurabh Tandon, with over eight years at Flipkart; and former CMO Apoorv Sharma, who joined from Apple and left in May 2025. Other team members come from WhatsApp, Meta, Google, and Amazon, bringing experience in product launches and large-scale technology deployment.
“…beyond the products, growth, and milestones, what I’m most proud of is the team we built and the impact we created together. It has been a privilege to lead and learn alongside such a committed, mission-driven group,” Maheshwari remarked.
Building on ALLEN’s academic expertise and pedagogy, the company has been integrating technology, including AI and ML, into students’ learning journeys. This is reflected in its revamped website, streamlined mobile app, and other behind-the-scenes tech enhancements developed by Maheshwari’s team.
“Together, we built a digital-first EdTech business anchored in learning outcomes. We launched transformative technology, scaled rapidly, and most importantly, made a real difference in the lives of students. From AI-powered learning to seamless offline–online integration, every step was guided by our vision to make education more accessible, deliver real learning outcomes, and truly empower students,” she noted.
ALLEN Digital also developed a biology bot to enable conversational learning experiences. The bot has been integrated with questions from Doubtnut, an AI-based doubt-solving platform which ALLEN acquired for $10 million in December.
Although ALLEN reported revenue of Rs 3,245 crore in FY24, a 42% increase from the previous year, its profit in the fiscal declined 44% to Rs 136 crore.
Edited by Affirunisa Kankudti