Indian-origin techie Srinivas Narayanan, who has been serving as the CTO of B2B Applications at OpenAI, since September 2025, has announced his departure from the Sam Altman-led artificial intelligence startup. Having originally taken on the role of VP of Engineering at the company, the San Francisco-based (California) tech leader has completed “3 incredible years” at the firm ahead of his exit scheduled for next week.
Taking to his social media platforms on Friday (US time), Narayanan wrote, “I have decided to leave OpenAI. The last three years have been an incredible journey that felt more like ten.” He further confirmed that he had shared his decision with the OpenAI leadership team at the beginning of the month. He is now planning to return to India to spend “some much needed-time” with his “aging parents” before setting off on a new professionally journey.
Srinivas Narayanan to return to India for parents
Although presently known as a Silicon Valley maverick, Narayanan grew up in Chennai, India. His LinkedIn profile shows that the techie, who was once professionally linked to Meta, started his MS degree in Computer Science at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1995. The life-altering leap in career’s trajectory came after he finished his bachelor’s in technology (B.Tech) in Computer Science at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology in Madras.
Having constantly stayed buried in work since then, Srinivas earned his post as a software engineer at the IBM Almaden Research Centre in 1997. From the mid 1990’s to 2026, he’s been committed to the tech world. But now, after all these years, he’s decided to return to his country of origin for his parents.
Narayanan is not the only top executive that OpenAI lost on Friday. Kevin Weil, who had been heading the company’s scientific research efforts after serving as chief production officer, and Bill Peebles, who headed OpenAI’s AI video app Sora, also announced their departures. Nonetheless, a source familiar with the changes told Business Insider that Narayanan’s exit is unrelated to the other two.
Srinivas Narayanan exits OpenAI: Full statement
The Indian-origin OpenAI techie shared the following statement on both his X and LinkedIn accounts:
“After 3 incredible years, I am leaving OpenAI at the end of next week.
I shared my decision with the OpenAI leadership team at the start of the month and here is a shorter version of what I shared with my team earlier this week.
Hi Team,
I have decided to leave OpenAI. The last three years have been an incredible journey that felt more like ten.
Leading the b2b engineering team has been an enormous privilege. With the recent/upcoming product launches, this felt like the right time to step back. I will also fondly remember my prior role leading the Applied Engineering team, from when it was ~40 people on a single floor in the 575 office, when I first started.
We shipped some of the fastest-growing products in history, like ChatGPT and the API, with no real playbook to guide us. This was only possible because of the incredible team we built – you are the most passionate, dedicated, and hard-working colleagues I have ever worked with. You all have inspired me so much, and I’m so proud of what we have built together. I can’t thank you enough!
I am so grateful to Sam Altman, Greg Brockman and Fidji Simo and the rest of the OpenAI leadership for this opportunity of a lifetime.
I will cherish this time forever during this historic period for technology and society, and I wish you all the very best for the future.
I am looking forward to spending some much-needed time with my aging parents in India before deciding what’s next.
Thanks again. It has been a privilege to be on this journey with you.“
Who is Srinivas Narayanan?
Having joined OpenAI three years ago, Srinivas took on the role of VP of Engineering and led the company’s engineering efforts, including ChatGPT, API and the infrastructure to support them, in April 2023, according to his LinkedIn profile. Thereafter, he became the CTO of B2B Applications at OpenAI in September 2025, the same identity he will be leaving the company as next week.
Prior to his OpenAI stint, he served as the VP of Engineering at Meta (formerly Facebook) as well. His tenure at the Mark Zuckerberg-led tech giant stretched for over 13 years.
A few years ago, he stole headlines after inaugurated the Global INDIAai Summit 2024 in India. Having grown up in Chennai, he first learnt about AI in 1994, according to Forbes India. As an undergraduate at IIT-Madras, he wrote his first AI chess program. He eventually went on to complete his master’s in computer sciences (CS) at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.