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Meta's longtime infrastructure chief and co-head of engineering, Santosh Janardhan, is set to leave the company in early 2027. The departure marks a significant leadership change as the Facebook parent increases spending on AI, data centres and computing infrastructure.
Janardhan informed employees about his decision on Wednesday through an internal memo, according to a Bloomberg report. He did not provide a specific reason for stepping down. He is expected to remain with Meta through the first quarter of 2027 to support the transition. Janardhan joined Facebook in 2009 and has played a major role in building the company's global infrastructure, including its data centres, networks and computing systems.
Dave Brown, a former Amazon Web Services (AWS) executive who joined Meta earlier this year, is expected to take over operational leadership of the infrastructure division. Brown brings nearly two decades of experience at AWS, where he worked on computing and machine-learning services.
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He will inherit responsibility for a critical part of Meta's technology operations as the company expands its AI capabilities. Janardhan is also expected to remain involved in an advisory capacity as chief technology officer of Meta Compute, the company's broader computing initiative.
The transition comes at a time when Meta is committing substantial resources to AI development. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has outlined plans to build tens of gigawatts of computing capacity over the decade, requiring major investments in data centres, energy supplies and supporting technology.
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Meta's infrastructure operations have become increasingly important as it develops AI models and services to compete with rivals such as OpenAI and Google. Brown's appointment gives Meta an experienced cloud infrastructure executive to lead the next phase of expansion. The company will now have several months to complete the leadership handover before Janardhan's planned departure in 2027.