'Going To Ageing Parents In India': Indian-Origin OpenAI CTO Srinivas Narayanan Steps Down After Three Years Of Joining

OpenAI is facing yet another high-profile departure. Srinivas Narayanan, an Indian-origin technology leader serving as Chief Technology Officer for B2B Applications at OpenAI since September 2025, has announced he will be stepping down from his role next week.

In a heartfelt post shared on X, Narayanan described his three-year tenure at the company as 'an incredible journey that felt more like ten,' and said he had informed OpenAI leadership of his decision at the start of the month.

As CTO of B2B Applications, Narayanan previously led engineering teams responsible for some of OpenAI's most popular products, including ChatGPT and its developer API platform. He joined OpenAI as Vice President of Engineering in April 2023 and was promoted to his current position in September 2025.

In the post addressed to his team, Narayanan reflected on the journey from OpenAI's earlier, leaner days. He described leading the Applied Engineering team "from when it was, 40 people on a single floor," before scaling it into an operation that helped build what he called "some of the fastest-growing products in history." He credited the growth entirely to his team, calling them "the most passionate, dedicated, and hard-working colleagues I have ever worked with."

Based in San Francisco, Narayanan indicated plans to return to India to spend time with his ageing parents before determining his next professional move.

Narayanan completed his Bachelor of Technology at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras between 1991 and 1995. He spent over a decade at Meta (then Facebook) as Vice President of Engineering, leading large-scale initiatives, before joining OpenAI in 2023.

His departure is part of a broader wave of leadership changes at the company. The exits come just weeks after Fidji Simo, OpenAI's product and business chief, announced she would take a medical leave due to a worsening neuroimmune condition. Kevin Weil and Bill Peebles also announced their departures on the same day as Narayanan.

OpenAI has not yet announced a successor to Narayanan's role.