How can you build a global hospitality business while exceeding customer expectations?
Ritesh Agarwal, Founder and CEO of OYO, joins Ana Blanquart at the FII TV Studio during FII PRIORITY Europe 2026 in Rome to discuss his journey from building a startup to taking OYO public, the future of hospitality, and his experience as a panelist on Shark Tank India.
Watch the full interview for insights on entrepreneurship, innovation, hospitality, and sustainable tourism.
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What Ritesh Agarwal said
Written from the verified transcript and checked against it. Every figure links to the moment it was said.
Ritesh Agarwal, founder and CEO of Oyo Rooms, argued that tourism is poised to flourish, driven by AI-induced prosperity and more leisure time, but stressed the need for collaborative regulation and preparation across talent, infrastructure, and city policies. He highlighted the importance of treating the EU as a single economic geography to boost business and investment. Agarwal recounted his personal journey, starting Oyo at age 19 with a $100,000 grant from Peter Thiel's program, which required dropping out of university. He explained the company's origin in his childhood experience of staying with relatives during pilgrimages, leading to the name Oyo, meaning independence. He detailed Oyo's growth from economy lodging in India to managing over 100,000 summer houses across Europe, including major apartment operations in Paris, and noted his visibility on Shark Tank as an inspiration for young Indian entrepreneurs.
Key takeaways
Tourism is not just here to stay but to flourish, driven by AI-driven prosperity and more free time.
Oyo manages over 100,000 summer houses across Europe, including in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, Croatia, and Paris.
Agarwal started Oyo at age 19 with a $100,000 grant from Peter Thiel's program, which required dropping out of university.
Numbers and commitments
Figure
What it refers to
Type
At
$100,000
Grant received from Peter Thiel's program to start a company
Over tourism is a challenge but it can be solved if we get together and design the best regulations. The biggest challenge in my mind is enterprise. The more EU on the business side and industry and capital management can become as one geography great for businesses and great for investments. Tourism is not just here to stay, it's here to flourish.
See, I think the first and the foremost is in the world of AI people I believe the world will be inherently more prosperous and people will have more time in the hands. That is the best things possible for tourism because when you have more money and you have more time, you want to see the world.
6 more exchanges in this transcript
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Agarwal, R. (2026, July 3). Ritesh Agarwal, Founder and CEO, OYO | Leaders Talk [Interview transcript]. FII Institute. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1058340/
MLA
Ritesh Agarwal. "Ritesh Agarwal, Founder and CEO, OYO | Leaders Talk." FII Institute, 3 Jul. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1058340/.
BibTeX
@misc{agarwal2026_1058340,
author = {Ritesh Agarwal},
title = {Ritesh Agarwal, Founder and CEO, OYO | Leaders Talk},
howpublished = {Interview transcript, FII Institute. CEOInterviews.AI},
year = {2026},
month = {jul},
url = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1058340/},
note = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}
