Meta infrastructure chief steps down, transitioning to advisory role

Santosh Janardhan, Meta's long-serving head of infrastructure and co-head of engineering, is departing the company, according to Meta's announcement to TechCrunch. He will be succeeded by Dave Brown, who joined Meta earlier this year as vice president of infrastructure. Brown brings extensive experience from Amazon, where he spent 19 years focusing on compute, cloud, and AI. While Janardhan is expected to leave next year, a Meta representative stated that he will remain temporarily to facilitate a transition and will move into an advisory capacity focused on Meta Compute. Janardhan, who began with the firm in 2009, was instrumental in the company's expansion. His departure followed the circulation of an internal memo, which cited the need to pass the baton, though the memo did not detail the reasons for his exit. This change comes as Meta significantly increases its infrastructure spending to compete in the ongoing AI sector, and Janardhan had previously led the Meta Compute initiative earlier this year.