Who is Arvind KC: The Indian-origin exec named OpenAI’s chief people officer

OpenAI has named Arvind KC as its chief people officer, bringing in a veteran operator as the company navigates its next phase of rapid growth.
Arvind joins multiple other Indian-origin executives at the ChatGPT-maker, including Vijaye Raji, CTO for applications, and Srivinas Narayanan, vice president.

Arvind has been working for tech companies for more than 25 years and holds an MBA from Santa Clara University and a degree in chemical engineering from North Maharashtra University.


Over a varied career, Arvind has led internal product development, IT, information security and engineering teams at global technology companies. He started his career as a solutions architect at Dallas-headquartered supply chain management company i2 Technologies, later having stints at semiconductor companies across different business roles, building early expertise in managing complex operational processes before moving into broader technology and people leadership roles.

His first stint at a big tech firm came in 2011 when he joined Facebook as a director leading a team of product managers, engineers and data analysts to build enterprise solutions on Facebook platform for HR, recruiting, sales & marketing, infra, legal and security business functions.

After spending more than three years at Facebook, Arvind joined data intelligence company Palantir Technologies as its CIO and head of people operations, overseeing technology strategy and organisational systems. At Google, he was vice president of engineering, leading product development initiatives focused on enterprise collaboration and productivity.

Arvind joins from US-based listed gaming platform Roblox, where he served as chief people and systems officer.

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In its announcement, OpenAI said Arvind will oversee hiring, onboarding, employee development and performance management across the organisation. His appointment fills a vacancy created after Julia Villagra stepped down in August 2025, after less than six months in the role.

He will be based in the San Francisco Bay Area, where OpenAI is headquartered.

Commenting on the appointment, Fidji Simo, chief executive of applications at OpenAI, said Arvind’s leadership would help the company scale up while preserving its culture and operating principles.

In a LinkedIn post announcing his departure from Roblox, Arvind described artificial intelligence as a structural shift in how work gets done, framing his move as a chance to help shape that transition from the inside.

While large US-based tech companies such as Alphabet, Microsoft, Adobe, IBM and Palo Alto Networks are led by Indian-origin CEOs, some of these companies are now increasingly appointing top-level executives from the subcontinent for other roles as well.

Aside from Arvind, mobility giant Uber recently announced the elevation of Balaji Krishnamurthy as its chief financial officer. The company had last year named Praveen Naga as its chief technology officer and Sachin Kansal as its chief product officer.

OpenAI's rival Anthropic named Rahul Patil as its CTO last October, while Elon Musk-led Tesla elevated company veteran Vaibhav Taneja as chief financial officer in 2023.

In July last year, long-time Apple SVP of operations and Moradabad-born Sabih Khan was named the iPhone-maker’s chief operating officer.

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