ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
OpenAI CTO Srinivas Narayanan quits
Originally from Chennai, India, Narayanan studied computer science at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras before pursuing a master’s degree in US
-
Pranavi Sharma - Sun, 19, Apr 2026
- 01:09 EDT
- 30
Srinivas Narayanan / Indiaspora
Indian-origin tech executive Srinivas Narayanan, who serves as chief technology officer of B2B Applications at OpenAI, has announced he will leave the company after three years, with his exit scheduled for next week.
Narayanan shared the decision on social media Friday, saying he had informed the leadership team earlier this month. He said he plans to return to India to spend time with his “aging parents” before deciding his next professional step.
ALSO READ: OpenAI CEO endorses Indian-American startup Cradlewise
“I have decided to leave OpenAI. The last three years have been an incredible journey that felt more like ten,” he wrote.
Narayanan joined the San Francisco-based company as vice president of engineering before taking on the CTO role in September 2025. During his tenure, he led the B2B engineering team and previously headed the Applied Engineering team.
“Leading the b2b engineering team has been an enormous privilege,” he said. “With the recent/upcoming product launches, this felt like the right time to step back.”
He also reflected on the company’s growth during his time there. “We shipped some of the fastest-growing products in history, like ChatGPT and the API, with no real playbook to guide us,” he said. “This was only possible because of the incredible team we built.”
Narayanan thanked Sam Altman, Greg Brockman and Fidji Simo, along with the broader leadership team, calling the experience “an opportunity of a lifetime.”
“I will cherish this time forever during this historic period for technology and society,” he said.
Originally from Chennai, India, Narayanan studied computer science at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras before pursuing a master’s degree at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He began his career at the IBM Almaden Research Center in 1997.
Narayanan is among several senior leaders to exit the company around the same time. Kevin Weil and Bill Peebles also announced their departures Friday. A source familiar with the matter told Business Insider that Narayanan’s decision is unrelated to the others.
“I am looking forward to spending some much-needed time with my aging parents in India before deciding what’s next,” Narayanan said.
Discover more at New India Abroad.
Related
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
E Paper
Video
Comments
Start the conversation
Become a member of New India Abroad to start commenting.
Sign Up Now
Already have an account? Login