Who is Srinivas Narayanan? The IIT Madras alumnus behind ChatGPT growth leaving OpenAI

Srinivas Narayanan, an Indian-origin technology leader serving as Chief Technology Officer for B2B Applications at OpenAI, has announced he will leave the company next week, marking a notable leadership exit as the firm accelerates its enterprise AI push. 

Based in San Francisco, Narayanan shared the decision in a social media post, describing his stint at the company led by Sam Altman as “three incredible years” that felt “more like ten.” He said he informed the leadership team earlier this month and recently communicated the move internally. 

During his tenure, Narayanan led key engineering efforts across B2B applications and earlier headed Applied Engineering. He highlighted the launch and scaling of products such as ChatGPT and OpenAI’s developer API, calling them among the fastest-growing in technology history. 

He credited the company’s teams for these achievements, praising their dedication and impact. “This was only possible because of the incredible team we built,” he wrote, expressing gratitude to OpenAI’s leadership for what he called “the opportunity of a lifetime.” 

Exit comes amid enterprise expansion 

Narayanan’s departure comes at a time when OpenAI is rapidly expanding its enterprise offerings, making his exit significant for the company’s B2B engineering roadmap. 

He joined OpenAI in April 2023 as Vice President of Engineering and was promoted to CTO of B2B Applications in September 2025. In this role, he oversaw critical infrastructure and product development for enterprise customers, helping scale the company’s commercial AI ecosystem. 

Prior to OpenAI, Narayanan spent over a decade at Facebook (now Meta) as Vice President of Engineering, where he led large-scale systems and product initiatives. His earlier career included roles at IBM and Tavant Technologies, as well as co-founding Viralizr, a startup focused on social collaboration tools. He also worked with General Catalyst on AI-related initiatives before joining OpenAI. 

IIT Madras alumnus with global tech footprint 

An alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology Madras (Class of 1995), Narayanan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and later earned a Master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. 

He began his career at IBM’s Almaden Research Center in 1997, building a foundation in research and engineering before moving into leadership roles across the tech industry. 

Plans to return to India temporarily 

Looking ahead, Narayanan said he plans to spend time in India with his aging parents before deciding his next move. 

“I will cherish this time forever during this historic period for technology and society,” he wrote, thanking colleagues and leadership as he prepares to step away from one of the most closely watched companies in artificial intelligence. 

His exit underscores a key moment for OpenAI as it continues to scale globally while navigating leadership transitions.