(Bloomberg) -- Tesla Inc. employees have been told that Chief Information Officer Nagesh Saldi is leaving the company, days before it’s set to unveil robotaxi prototypes at an event in California, according to people familiar with the matter.
Saldi reported directly to Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk. News of his departure was shared with employees this week, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private personnel matters.
The long-serving executive had been involved in the build-out of Tesla’s new data centers in Texas and New York, two of the people said. The company is bulking up its computing capacity to accelerate breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and enable autonomous driving.
Tesla is expected to show off its recent technological advancements at the robotaxi event on Oct. 10 at Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.’s movie studio lot in Burbank, California.
Musk, Saldi and representatives for Tesla didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Saldi joined Tesla in 2012 from HP Inc., according to his LinkedIn profile. He became CIO in 2018, when the company was in the throes of ramping up production of the Model 3 sedan. A CIO is typically in charge of all information technology and security strategy, including data centers.
Other executives have left Tesla this year as the company has shifted its focus and priorities. Senior Vice President Drew Baglino and Rohan Patel, its government affairs head, exited in April. Tesla’s top human resources executive, Allie Arebalo, also departed months ago.
Tesla only has three named executive officers: Musk, Chief Financial Officer Vaibhav Taneja and Tom Zhu, senior vice president of automotive.
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