Her Story
About Neha
Neha Agarwal is the founder and co-founder of Skeptics.ai, an AI-native platform and services company that she established about a year ago. The company provides internal audits, SOX compliance, internal controls, and automation to help public and large private companies meet their audit requirements. With about 30 years of experience in audit, Neha previously served as an external and internal auditor, including nearly five years at Freshworks where she built the internal audit function from the ground up with a team of 15, and three years at a pharma company where she developed compliance and internal audit programs. Her earlier career included roles at PwC, a medium-sized consulting company, and a smaller CPA firm in Seattle. She earned a bachelor's degree in accounting in India, followed by chartered accountancy credentials there and a CPA in the US, achieving the 10th highest score in Washington state on the exam. Neha is a member of the Washington State Board of Accountancy and the Internal Audit Association. She has also helped found Project Reuse, a nonprofit focused on reducing plastic use on the island of Maui.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Neha
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to truly being there to support people and help them do the right thing. It's a real commitment to the cause of doing the right thing and influencing people for that.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would tell them that it's no longer just accounting. Everybody now needs to know enough technology to be in any profession, especially ours. They have to be much faster at grasping and understanding to get to a level where they can work with AI and validate what AI is doing.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The challenge is that we are good at what we do but not good at selling or promoting ourselves. The opportunities are amazing with AI, as we can cut down hours by 60-70% and reduce costs for companies by 40-50%.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
You have to be true to yourself and true to others. You need a community and to bring people along with you for common causes. Respect is the biggest thing we need to give to people.
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