Srinivas Narayanan, the Chief Technology Officer for B2B Applications at OpenAI, has announced his exit from the prominent artificial intelligence company. Narayanan, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, confirmed his departure in a social media post, reflecting on his three years at OpenAI as an intense and transformative period.
During his tenure, Narayanan played a pivotal role in the engineering efforts behind some of OpenAI's most rapidly adopted products. He specifically highlighted his contributions to the successful launch and scaling of ChatGPT and the OpenAI developer API, describing them as among the fastest-growing technologies in history.
A Critical Leadership Transition
Narayanan, based in San Francisco, informed OpenAI's leadership earlier this month before making the internal announcement. He joined the company in April 2023 as Vice President of Engineering and was promoted to CTO of B2B Applications in September 2025. In this advanced role, he oversaw crucial infrastructure and product development tailored for enterprise clients, significantly contributing to the expansion of OpenAI's commercial AI ecosystem.
His departure comes at a significant juncture as OpenAI intensifies its focus on enterprise offerings. The exit of a key leader in B2B engineering is notable as the company navigates its ambitious roadmap for corporate AI solutions.
From IIT Madras to Global Tech Leadership
An accomplished technology veteran, Srinivas Narayanan graduated from IIT Madras in 1995 with a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, later earning a Master's from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His extensive career began at IBM's Almaden Research Center in 1997, where he built a foundation in research and engineering.
Prior to joining OpenAI, Narayanan spent over a decade at Facebook (now Meta) as Vice President of Engineering, leading large-scale systems and product initiatives. His background also includes roles at Tavant Technologies and co-founding Viralizr, a startup focused on social collaboration tools. He also engaged with General Catalyst on AI-related projects before his move to OpenAI.
Looking ahead, Narayanan plans to return to India temporarily to spend time with his aging parents before deciding on his next professional endeavor. He expressed profound gratitude for the opportunity to contribute during what he termed a "historic period for technology and society."