OpenAI Hires Intel AI Chief Sachin Katti To Power Compute Push

OpenAI has appointed Sachin Katti, Intel’s former Chief Technology and AI Officer, to lead its compute infrastructure initiatives, a move that signals the company’s growing focus on scaling its hardware and systems strategy for next-generation AI research.

OpenAI President and Co-founder Greg Brockman confirmed the development on X (formerly Twitter), saying he is “incredibly excited to work with him on designing and building our compute infrastructure, which will power our AGI research and scale its applications to benefit everyone.”

Katti, who most recently served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Network and Edge Group (NEX) at Intel, brings extensive experience in AI systems architecture, edge computing, and networking technologies. During his tenure, he shaped Intel’s AI product roadmap and research efforts across Intel Labs, while also deepening the company’s collaborations with startups and developers.

Leadership Shift at Intel

Following Katti’s exit, Intel announced that CEO Lip-Bu Tan will directly oversee the chipmaker’s AI and Advanced Technologies Group, emphasizing continuity in its AI roadmap.

In a statement, Intel said, “We thank Sachin for his contributions and wish him all the best. Lip-Bu will lead the AI and Advanced Technologies Groups, working closely with the team.”

Tan’s assumption of this leadership role comes at a crucial time, as Intel continues to navigate competitive pressure in the AI accelerator and chip design market, facing rivals like NVIDIA, AMD, and custom silicon developers aligned with major cloud and AI companies.

A Bridge Between Academia and Industry

Before joining Intel, Katti was a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Stanford University, where his research focused on wireless communication, networking, and applied coding theory. His work earned him distinctions such as the ACM Doctoral Dissertation Award (honourable mention) and the William Bennett Prize for Best Paper in IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking.

Beyond academia, Katti has been an active entrepreneur. He co-founded Kumu Networks, which pioneered self-interference cancellation technology, and Uhana, an AI-driven network optimisation startup later acquired by VMware.
His career has been defined by bridging cutting-edge research with commercial-scale innovation, making him a natural fit for OpenAI’s compute ambitions.

Strengthening OpenAI’s Compute Backbone

OpenAI’s decision to onboard a seasoned compute leader like Katti underscores how AI innovation now depends as much on hardware orchestration as on model design.
With expanding model sizes and compute intensity, the company is expected to continue building massive data centre-scale compute clusters — both independently and through partnerships with providers like Microsoft Azure.

Katti’s experience across edge systems and AI hardware design could play a pivotal role in optimising performance, cost, and scalability as OpenAI pushes toward its artificial general intelligence (AGI) vision.

Katti’s transition also reflects a larger trend in the AI ecosystem—top chip and systems talent migrating toward AI-first companies seeking deeper control over compute efficiency and architecture. It signals that AI labs like OpenAI are no longer just research powerhouses but are rapidly evolving into hardware-aware engineering organisations, competing for leadership in AI infrastructure innovation.