Chaya Nayak, formerly the Director of Product Management and Generative AI at the big-tech firm Meta, made a significant career move in August 2025 by joining the artificial intelligence (AI) major OpenAI. This transition was confirmed by LinkedIn data, with Nayak expressing her enthusiasm for the new role, stating, “I'm joining OpenAI to work with Irina Kofman on Special Initiatives – exploring new opportunities at the frontier of AI.” She described this new chapter as the ‘perfect next chapter’ in her professional journey.

Nayak's tenure at Meta, previously Facebook, spanned nearly a decade, specifically eight years and eleven months. Reflecting on her initial days at Facebook, Nayak recalled joining the company with the vision to launch ‘Data for Good,’ an initiative aimed at demonstrating the beneficial applications of data and artificial intelligence/machine learning for global impact. This ambitious experiment, as she noted, became the very foundation of her career. “What started as a bold experiment grew into the foundation of my career,” she shared in a social media post, expressing surprise that her initial weeks would evolve into such a pivotal, long-term role.

During her time at Meta, Nayak highlighted the immense personal and professional growth she experienced. She gained confidence, developed the boldness to pursue ‘audacious ideas,’ and built resilience to navigate challenges. Crucially, she emphasized the strong network of colleagues and friends who were instrumental in shaping her career trajectory and inspiring her throughout the journey. “Along the way, I grew as a leader. I learned confidence, boldness to chase audacious ideas, and resilience when things didn’t go as planned. Most importantly, I built a network of colleagues and friends who shaped me and inspired me every step of the way,” Nayak stated.

Her contributions at Meta were extensive and varied. Nayak was instrumental in building products and supporting communities in crisis through initiatives like Disaster Maps. She also worked on the Facebook Open Research and Transparency Team (FORT), where she focused on critical areas such as data cleaning, differential privacy, and data clean rooms, helping the company develop tools for data sharing. Her work was vital in navigating significant events like the 2020 US Elections, leading to the publication of several papers with top researchers in journals like Science, examining Meta’s impact on elections and democracy.

In the last two and a half years at Meta, Nayak dedicated her efforts to Generative AI, overseeing the development of three generations of Llama and Meta AI. She described this period as one of “solving hard problems at incredible speed, and imagining what the next wave of AI could mean for society.”

Academically, Chaya Nayak holds a Bachelor's degree in Global Studies from the University of Wisconsin. She furthered her education by completing a Master's in Public Policy and Data Science from the University of California, Berkeley, as detailed on her LinkedIn profile.