All about Raj Jegannathan, the Indian-origin Tesla V-P who reported to Elon Musk exits after 13 years

Tesla vice president Raj Jengannathan announced on Monday in a LinkedIn post that he is quitting the company after spending around 13 years. In a short LinkedIn post, Jengannathan wrote that his journey at the Elon Musk-led company has been one of “continuous evolution”.

“From the technical intricacies of designing, building, and operating on one of the largest AI clusters to impactful contributions in IT, security, sales, and service, it has been a privilege to serve. A comprehensive end-to-end understanding of the business has been essential — enabling the team to harness AI effectively to achieve meaningful outcomes across products and support,” he added. 

He further had a message for all the teams working at Tesla.

Without giving details about what lies next for him, he wrote, “To the teams: You are exceptional. Thank you for being partners and for teaching something new every day. As I move on, I do so with a full heart and excitement for what lies ahead. Thank you, Tesla, for this wonderful opportunity!”

Know all about Raj Jenganathan

Who is Raj Jegannathan?

Raj Jengannathan joined Tesla in 2012 as a technical expert in cloud security and IT. He rose through ranks to become Vice President of IT, AI Infrastructure, Applications and Information Security.

After this, he was promoted to senior roles at global tech giants, serving as a Senior Product Manager for database optimisation tools at Oracle. He also worked with Microsoft’s Azure team on AI-driven insights, as per TESMAG. 

What is Raj Jengannath’s educational qualification? 

As per his LinkedIn profile, he did his 12th from ARLM Matric Higher Secondary School in 2000. He then went on to complete his B.Sc. in Computer Science from St Joseph’s College of Arts and Science in Tamil Nadu’s Cuddalore in 2004. 

Following this, he did his MCA in Computer Science from Sacred Heart College (Autonomous) in Vellore in 2007. He also holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. 

How long did Raj Jegannathan work at Tesla?

He worked at Tesla for around 13 years since joining the company in 2012 as a senior staff engineer. 

What role did Raj Jegannathan hold at Tesla?

Jengannathan was tapped to oversee sales in the North America region last year. Besides this, he also managed IT and data functions, including AI infrastructure. He also took on the sales roles shortly after Troy Jones left the company in July. 

Did Raj Jegannathan report directly to Elon Musk?

He was one of those executives who reported directly to Elon Musk. Before him, longtime Musk confidante Omead Afshar quit last year after overseeing sales and manufacturing in North America. Milan Kovac, the engineering lead for Tesla’s Optimus Robot program, and David Lau, who ran software for over a decade, also left the company in 2025. 

Why did Raj Jegannathan leave Tesla? 

Though he did not explain his reason for leaving, employees told CNBC that since January, he stopped being active on the company’s internal systems.