Meet Uday Ruddaraju, Hyderabad grad picked to lead OpenAI data centres

OpenAI has appointed Uday Ruddarraju to lead its data centre and computing infrastructure operations as Sachin Katti prepares to step down from the role over the next few weeks. Ruddarraju, who joined OpenAI in 2025, will now oversee the computing capacity and infrastructure that OpenAI needs to develop and run its artificial intelligence models. Katti will remain with OpenAI as an adviser.While Uday Ruddarraju will now lead the data centre and computing operations at OpenAI, one of Silicon Valley’s leading AI companies, his journey to the role began in Hyderabad, India. An engineering graduate from Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology (CBIT), he built his career across eBay and Robinhood before joining Elon Musk’s xAI in 2024. Now, he will oversee the computing infrastructure that powers OpenAI’s AI ambitions.