Uday Ruddarraju Named CTO of Compute at OpenAI, Highlights Non-IIT Background

By: Harsh Vardhan

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Updated on: 21-Jul-2026 08:00 PM

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Uday Ruddarraju has been appointed as the new CTO of Compute at OpenAI, marking a significant milestone in his career. Unlike many top tech leaders from India, Ruddarraju did not attend an IIT, IIIT, or NIT. Instead, he graduated in Computer Science from Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology (CBIT) in Hyderabad. His journey to this high-profile role at OpenAI demonstrates that success in technology is not limited to graduates from elite institutions.

Key Highlights

• Uday Ruddarraju appointed CTO of Compute at OpenAI after joining as Head of Compute in 2025.
• Ruddarraju graduated from CBIT Hyderabad, not from IIT, IIIT, or NIT institutions.
• He previously led infrastructure teams at eBay, Robinhood, and xAI before joining OpenAI.
• Ruddarraju specializes in building large-scale AI and cloud infrastructure systems.

Ruddarraju's Career Path

After earning his degree from CBIT, Ruddarraju completed internships, including a stint as a software engineering intern at Amazon. He then moved to the United States to pursue a Master's degree in Computer Science at the University of Minnesota. Following his graduation, he joined eBay in 2013 as a Software Engineer II, Cloud Infrastructure. Over five years and seven months at eBay, he advanced to Senior Member of Technical Staff and Technical Lead, Cloud and Platforms. There, he contributed to building the cloud infrastructure that supports one of the world’s largest e-commerce platforms.

In 2018, Ruddarraju joined Robinhood, starting as a Staff Software Engineer. He rose to Senior Director of Engineering and Head of Infrastructure, leading the infrastructure organization through rapid expansion and significant user growth. He remained at Robinhood for nearly six years, overseeing critical periods of the company's development.

Role at xAI and OpenAI

In 2024, Elon Musk hired Ruddarraju as Head of Infrastructure Engineering at xAI. His responsibilities focused on building large-scale computing systems essential for training advanced AI models. This role emphasized his expertise in developing the underlying infrastructure required for artificial intelligence, rather than creating new AI models themselves.

Ruddarraju joined OpenAI in 2025 as Head of Compute and Infrastructure. In this position, he played a key role in expanding the compute capacity needed to train frontier AI models, including GPT-5.6. Just over a year later, OpenAI promoted him to CTO, Compute. He now leads efforts to build what he describes as "the world's largest compute footprint," enabling the next generation of AI development.

Building AI Infrastructure

Ruddarraju specializes in constructing the invisible systems that support AI, such as GPU clusters, high-speed networking, storage infrastructure, and distributed computing platforms. These systems are crucial for companies like OpenAI to train advanced AI models at scale. His expertise in scaling cloud and AI infrastructure has made him a trusted leader in the field.

Announcing his promotion on LinkedIn, Ruddarraju expressed excitement about his new role and the company's mission. He highlighted the ongoing expansion of compute capacity and invited talented professionals to join OpenAI's growing team.