Meta's Head of Infrastructure Steps Down
Original: Meta is losing its longtime head of infrastructure
Why This Matters
Leadership continuity matters as Meta ramps up multi-billion-dollar AI infrastructure spending.
Santosh Janardhan, Meta's longtime head of infrastructure and co-head of engineering since 2009, is leaving the company. He will be replaced by Dave Brown, formerly of Amazon, who joined Meta earlier this year.
Santosh Janardhan, who joined Meta in 2009 and helped build the company's infrastructure as it scaled into one of the world's largest internet platforms, is stepping down from his role as head of infrastructure and co-head of engineering. Meta confirmed the departure to TechCrunch, adding that Janardhan will transition into an advisory role on Meta Compute before leaving next year. His replacement, Dave Brown, joined Meta earlier in 2026 as VP of infrastructure after spending 19 years at Amazon focused on compute, cloud, and AI. Bloomberg first reported the news, citing an internal memo that referenced the need to 'pass the baton' — though no specific reason for Janardhan's exit was given, and Meta did not clarify further. Janardhan had recently been tapped to lead Meta Compute, the company's initiative to aggressively scale its data center footprint amid intensifying competition in AI infrastructure.