Her research focuses on machine learning, data-stream analytics, concept-drift adaptation, complex event processing, biomedical imaging, intelligent healthcare, and scalable real-time data systems. Her scholarly contributions include 69 international journal articles, 89 international conference papers, and several book chapters. She has led and contributed to numerous national and international projects funded by agencies such as DST, CSIR, ICMR, the European Union, AISTDF, and the Indo-Swiss Joint Research Programme, addressing healthcare, smart buildings, cyber-physical systems, environmental monitoring, and technology-enabled learning.

Prof. Agarwal has actively contributed to academic and professional capacity building by organizing international conferences, workshops, GIAN courses, summer schools, and advanced training programmes. Her major initiatives include ISRO and ONGC training programmes, the IEEE CIS Summer School, India–Sri Lanka bilateral workshops, and international courses on AI, big data, and stream analytics. She has also delivered tutorials at prominent international forums, including IEEE VIS, ICPR, IEEE BigData, PAKDD, DASFAA, EASE, DSAA, and ICONIP.