# Alok Goel

> Alok Goel is the co-founder and CEO/CFO of Drivetrain, an AI-native financial planning and analysis platform. His route to the founder's chair runs through product work at Google, operating roles at redBus and FreeCharge, and more than five years investing at Elevation Capital. Across those roles, he kept returning to one problem: why some companies can see trouble early, make coordinated decisions, and hit plans more predictably while others are trapped in disconnected data and spreadsheets.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO/CFO at Drivetrain
- **Organizations:** Drivetrain, Elevation Capital, SAIF Partners, FreeCharge, redBus, Google, Adobe, HCL Technologies
- **Nationality:** Indian
- **Education:** MBA in Finance, Indian School of Business, B.Tech. in Electrical Engineering, Delhi College of Engineering
- **Known for:** Named to Fortune India's 40 Under 40 list in 2015, when he was CEO of FreeCharge., Led FreeCharge as CEO through its 2015 acquisition by Snapdeal., Held operating leadership at redBus before its acquisition by the Ibibo Group in 2013.

## Career timeline

- **Early career** — Worked at HCL Technologies and Adobe before moving into product management.
- **2007-2012** — Spent five years at Google in Bengaluru and Mountain View, including leadership work on search, mobile products, display advertising and AdSense.
- **2012-2013** — Served in product and operating leadership at redBus, including Chief Product Officer and Chief Operating Officer, before the company was acquired by the Ibibo Group.
- **2013-2015** — Became CEO of FreeCharge, succeeding co-founder Kunal Shah; helped scale the company through its acquisition by Snapdeal.
- **2015-2020** — Joined SAIF Partners, now Elevation Capital, as Managing Director and Partner focused on mobile, SaaS and technology investments.
- **2021-present** — Co-founded Drivetrain with Tarkeshwar Thakur and Saurav Bhagat and serves as CEO/CFO.
- **2022** — Drivetrain announced $15 million in funding from Elevation Capital, Jungle Ventures, Venture Highway and more than 25 individual investors and advisers.

## Achievements

- Named to Fortune India's 40 Under 40 list in 2015, when he was CEO of FreeCharge.
- Led FreeCharge as CEO through its 2015 acquisition by Snapdeal.
- Held operating leadership at redBus before its acquisition by the Ibibo Group in 2013.
- Spent five years in product roles at Google across Bengaluru and Mountain View.
- Is listed as an inventor on patents related to online advertising technology.
- Co-founded Drivetrain in 2021 and announced a $15 million funding round in 2022.

## Latest updates

- **2026-06** — Shared that he was attending the Finance Alliance CFO Summit in San Jose to discuss AI return on investment, AI fluency in finance organizations and modern FP&A.
- **2026-02** — Contributed a detailed view on outcome-based pricing for AI software, arguing that it works only when outcomes are measurable, attributable, controllable and scalable to track.
- **2025-09** — Discussed Drivetrain's AI-first direction and the State of AI in FP&A research, describing a goal of giving smaller leadership teams access to stronger financial intelligence.
- **2024-08** — Appeared on The SaaS CFO Podcast to discuss moving from venture capital back to entrepreneurship, investor alignment and using multiple metrics in decision-making.

## Links

- Website: https://www.drivetrain.ai
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/goelalok
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/drivetrainai

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/alok-goel
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-17