Meta’s head of infrastructure and co-head of engineering, Santosh Janardhan, told colleagues in an internal memo on 11 November that he will leave in 2027 and hand the role to former Amazon Web Services executive David Brown, CNBC reported. Brown takes charge of Meta’s data-centre operations as the company expects full-year capital expenditure of $135 billion to $145 billion.
Key points
- Janardhan plans to leave Meta in 2027 after joining in 2009.
- Brown joined Meta in July after working at Amazon Web Services.
- Meta says Janardhan will move into an advisory role on Meta Compute.
- S&P Global Ratings has changed the outlook on Meta’s AA- credit rating from stable to negative.
Brown takes over from Janardhan
Janardhan joined Meta in 2009 and has led the infrastructure team that supports its services and AI work. In the memo, he said it was time to “pass the baton” to Brown, who joined the company in July.
Meta told TechCrunch that Brown, its vice president of infrastructure, will replace Janardhan. A company representative also said Janardhan would move into an advisory role on Meta Compute, its initiative for expanding data-centre investment and strategy.
Brown spent 19 years at Amazon, working on compute, cloud and AI, TechCrunch reported. His appointment brings experience running cloud infrastructure to an operation that must keep Meta’s existing services running while the company builds capacity for AI.
The Tech Buzz reported on 11 November that Meta had not announced a replacement. CNBC named Brown as Janardhan’s successor in its report that day, and Meta told TechCrunch he would take over.
Meta Compute gets a new infrastructure lead
Brown will formally lead infrastructure work within Meta Compute. The initiative is spearheaded by Meta president and vice chairman Dina Powell McCormick and technical leader Daniel Gross, with the team developing the data centres and related systems for the company’s AI plans.
Janardhan was tasked earlier in 2026 with leading Meta Compute. His move to an advisory position changes who runs the infrastructure work while keeping him involved in the initiative during the handover.
Meta has also had a change in its strategy leadership: AI Affairs reported that strategy chief Dave Wehner was leaving to become Fireworks CFO. Janardhan said in the memo that Brown should lead the next set of decisions about Meta’s infrastructure priorities.
Meta’s $135 billion to $145 billion spending plan
Meta said in its third-quarter earnings report that it expected full-year capital expenditure of $135 billion to $145 billion, CNBC reported. Brown inherits the infrastructure operation during that expansion, including the data-centre work Meta is pursuing for AI.
S&P Global Ratings changed the outlook on Meta’s AA- credit rating from stable to negative in late October. The ratings agency cited Meta’s negative free cash flow of $2.1 billion as part of that decision.
Janardhan will support Brown through the first quarter of 2027 as part of the transition, he said in the memo.
