Today, Tesla veteran executive Raj Jegannathan announced his exit from the company. According to a reflective LinkedIn post, Jegannathan described his journey as a time of “continuous evolution,” especially as he helped build some of the technology behind the company’s key backbones.
From Engineer to Vice President
Jegannathan joined Tesla in 2012 as a Senior Staff Engineer. Over the next decade he climbed the ranks to become Vice President of Information Technology, AI Infrastructure, Business Applications, and Information Security. His technical legacy at Tesla is substantial. He played a crucial role in creating and running one of the world’s largest AI computing clusters, a pillar of Tesla’s push into autonomous driving and automated manufacturing. Unlike the more public-facing leaders, Jegannathan largely worked on the back end, maintaining the stability of the global IT systems that sustain the company’s factories and service centers.
The Move to Sales Leadership
In the most unexpected pivot of his career in July 2025, Jegannathan was appointed to lead Tesla’s North American Sales, Service, and Delivery team. The appointment came after the company fired longtime sales executive Troy Jones. The move was unusual, industry analysts said, because Jegannathan had no conventional experience in automotive sales. At a time when EV demand was cooling and rivals like BYD were challenging Tesla, his deep expertise in Tesla’s internal data systems and AI tools was touted as an asset.
Why Now?
Jegannathan wasn’t able to explain the plans of his life in the years ahead or his decision to leave, but he resigned at a time when high executive turnover is the norm. A number of senior leaders have reportedly departed over the past 12 months, including the program managers for the Model Y and Cybertruck. In his goodbye statement, Jegannathan expressed his thanks to the staff, he called them “exceptional” and said he departs with a “full heart and excitement for what awaits.”
