10 OpenAI engineering leaders
OpenAI has two CTOs among these engineering leaders, one for Compute and one for Applications, alongside three vice presidents (engineering, app infrastructure and hardware), two data center heads, and the leads for agent infrastructure, the Apple integration, plus a director of software engineering. Worth a call when you are planning compute or data center capacity for AI workloads, designing infrastructure for agents, or building a model into a partner's product.
Professionals to explore
Chris Malone
LinkedInExperience: Former Head of Data Centers · OpenAI
Since 2025 Chris Malone has been Head of Data Centers at OpenAI, after Distinuished Engineer at Meta (2020–2025). Malone was also Distinguished Engineer & Senior Director at Google (2008–2020) and System Architect at Hewlett-Packard Company (1997–2007). Distinguished Engineer titles at Google and Meta plus the OpenAI data center role suit questions on data center design for AI.
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Dave Cummings
LinkedInExperience: Head of Engineering, Apple Integration · OpenAI
In five-plus years at OpenAI, Dave Cummings has moved from Software Engineer, Core API (2020–2022) to Tech Lead, DALL E (2022), Engineering Manager, ChatGPT (2022–2024) and Head of Engineering, Apple Integration (since 2024). Senior Software Engineer, Trust at Airbnb (2018–2020) came before OpenAI. The Apple Integration role makes Cummings the one to ask how a model provider ships inside another company's platform.
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David Lau
LinkedInExperience: VP Engineering · OpenAI
David Lau describes the work as frontier ML systems engineering at OpenAI, where the title has been VP Engineering since 2025, and calls the previous role head of software at Tesla. Tesla titles: VP Software Engineering (2017–2025), Senior Director of Firmware, Platforms, and Diagnostics (2015–2017) and Director, Firmware Engineering and System Integration (2014–2015). Suited to questions on ML systems engineering and large software organizations.
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Jacqueline Sansom
LinkedInExperience: Director of Software Engineering · OpenAI
Director of Software Engineering at OpenAI since 2023, Jacqueline Sansom held three Twitter titles in 2022–2023: Senior Director of Software Engineering, Director of Software Engineering and Senior Manager of Software Engineering. Director of Software Engineering at Apple (2021–2022) came just before. Engineering management at Apple, Twitter and OpenAI suits questions on managing software engineering teams.
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Paul Ashbourne
LinkedInExperience: Head of Agent Infrastructure · OpenAI
Agent training and deployment is the focus of Paul Ashbourne's team as Head of Agent Infrastructure at OpenAI since 2025; the team builds systems that enable training and deployment of AI agents, working hand-in-hand with researchers. OpenAI roles before that: Team Lead, Research ACE (2024–2025) and Member of Technical Staff (2024). Also Director of Engineering, Infrastructure at Embark Trucks (acquired by Applied Intuition) (2020–2023). A fit for questions on infrastructure for agent training.
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Richard Ho
LinkedInExperience: VP, Hardware · OpenAI
Richard Ho cites ML for chip design, past work on Google TPU and co-founding 0-In Design Automation. VP, Hardware at OpenAI since 2026, after Head of Hardware at OpenAI (2023–2026); Lightmatter roles were Senior Vice President, Silicon and Software Engineering (2023) and VP, Hardware Engineering (2022–2023). Also a USC Stevens School of Computing and AI advisory board member since 2026. The fit for custom silicon questions.
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Spas Lazarov
LinkedInExperience: Head of Data Center Engineering · OpenAI
Head of Data Center Engineering at OpenAI since 2026 and Member of Technical Staff there since 2025, Spas Lazarov spent 2014–2025 as Director Data Center Engineering at Apple. GE roles were Global Sales Director, Critical Power Systems Engineering (2008–2014) and Director, Critical Power Systems Engineering (1997–2008). Critical power and data center engineering titles fit questions on power and facility design for AI data centers.
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Uday Ruddarraju
LinkedInExperience: Chief Technology Officer, Compute · OpenAI
Uday Ruddarraju has been Chief Technology Officer, Compute at OpenAI since 2026, after Head of Compute and Infrastructure at OpenAI (2025–2026). Before OpenAI: Head of Infrastructure Engineering (xAI and X) at SpaceXAI (2024–2025) and Senior Director of Engineering & Head of Infrastructure at Robinhood (2023–2024). Infrastructure titles at xAI, Robinhood and OpenAI make Ruddarraju the call for questions on compute planning at scale.
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Venkat Venkataramani
LinkedInExperience: VP, App Infra · OpenAI
VP, App Infra at OpenAI since 2024, Venkat Venkataramani was Co-Founder & CEO of Rockset (acquired by OpenAI) from 2016 to 2024. As Engineering Director at Facebook (2012–2015), Venkataramani managed engineering teams that built Facebook's online data systems. Founding Rockset and the Facebook data systems work make Venkataramani the person for app infrastructure and data serving questions.
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Vijaye Raji
LinkedInExperience: CTO of Applications · OpenAI
CTO of Applications at OpenAI since 2025, Vijaye Raji was also Founder & CEO of Statsig (2021–2025). Facebook roles include VP, and Head of Entertainment (2019–2021), VP, and Head of Gaming (2017–2019), Head of Facebook Seattle (2015–2021) and Director, and Head of Engineering in Seattle (2014–2017). Founding Statsig plus the Facebook entertainment and gaming titles fit questions on engineering for consumer applications.
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Choose the right perspective
Compute, data centers and chips form one cluster: Uday Ruddarraju, Spas Lazarov, Chris Malone and Richard Ho. Product-side engineering questions fit Vijaye Raji, Venkat Venkataramani, Dave Cummings or Jacqueline Sansom, while David Lau and Paul Ashbourne are closest to ML systems and agent training infrastructure. Several hold past roles at Apple, Meta, Google or Tesla, which helps if you want a comparison with how those companies work.
Questions to take into the conversation
- 01How does OpenAI's compute organization decide how much capacity to secure ahead of new model training runs?
- 02What changes in app infrastructure when a product like ChatGPT has to serve both consumers and API customers?
- 03How does OpenAI's agent infrastructure team work with researchers when the environments for training agents keep changing?
About this directory
This is a professional research starting point based on business profile data retrieved on . Titles and companies reflect that source snapshot; roles marked former had ended by then. Check the linked profiles for current details. Inclusion does not imply Instant Expert membership or availability.