Data Centers · Report

OpenAI has named ex-xAI executive Uday Ruddarraju as its infrastructure and compute chief, replacing Sachin Katti amid leadership changes in its data center division; Ruddarraju joined OpenAI in July 2025 and became chief technology officer for compute.

A leadership change in OpenAI's compute and infrastructure organization signals continued reshuffling of the team that runs its data center buildout, which could affect the timing of its capacity commitments.

Trade pressSlicast · October 15, 2026 at 13:30 UTC · US · Source: Instagram

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OpenAI has appointed Uday Ruddarraju, a former xAI executive, to replace Sachin Katti as its infrastructure and compute chief, amid leadership changes in its data center division. Ruddarraju joined OpenAI in July 2025 and became chief technology officer for compute in July 2026.

Katti will leave his role on November 15 and remain with the company as an adviser. He joined OpenAI in November 2025 and oversaw major infrastructure projects, including a planned 8-gigawatt data center in Ohio involving SB Energy and Nvidia.

The transition follows other senior departures. Chris Malone left in August, and Peter Hoeschele joined Meta with two colleagues earlier this year.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Ruddarraju said he expects a smooth transition and plans to focus more on commercial partnerships.

Katti's GPT-Infra initiative will move under Richard Ho, OpenAI's chip chief.

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