'Return to India': OpenAI CTO Srinivas Narayanan resigns to spend time with his aging parents

Srinivas Narayanan, chief technology officer (CTO) for B2B applications at OpenAI, has announced he will leave the company at the end of next week, concluding a three-year tenure marked by rapid growth and product expansion. 

In posts on LinkedIn, Narayanan described his time at the company as “an incredible journey that felt more like ten years”.

He said the decision to step down followed a period of major product launches, adding, “With the recent and upcoming product launches, this felt like the right time to step back.”

Narayanan joined OpenAI in April 2023 as vice president of engineering and was promoted to CTO of B2B applications in September 2025.

During his time, he led teams responsible for building widely used products, including ChatGPT and the company’s API platform. Reflecting on that period, he noted that these were developed “with no real playbook to guide us”.

Before joining OpenAI, Narayanan spent more than a decade at Meta, where he served as vice president of engineering. His earlier career included roles at IBM and Tavant Technologies, as well as co-founding Viralizr.

An alumnus of IIT Madras and the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Narayanan said he plans to take time off to be with his family in India before deciding his next move.

“I am looking forward to spending some much-needed time with my aging parents in India before deciding what’s next,” he wrote.

His departure comes amid a series of leadership changes at OpenAI. Recent exits include Bill Peebles, who was associated with OpenAI’s Sora video-generation project, and Kevin Weil, who has been described in recent reporting as a vice president focused on OpenAI’s science efforts. 

The transition also coincides with OpenAI’s growing focus on international markets, particularly in India and the Asia-Pacific region. India has emerged as one of the company’s fastest-growing markets, with more than 100 million weekly active ChatGPT users reported.

OpenAI has announced plans to expand its presence in India, including opening offices in Mumbai and Bengaluru later in 2026. The company has also launched its “OpenAI for India” initiative and entered partnerships with the Tata Group for AI infrastructure and with JioHotstar for ChatGPT-powered conversational content discovery. 

In addition, OpenAI recently appointed Kiran Mani as managing director for Asia-Pacific operations, based in Singapore, as part of its broader regional strategy.