AWS' AI and genAI leader leaves for DigitalOcean as new CTO

AWS, Nvidia and Intel veteran Bratin Saha—who helped build AWS AI products like Amazon Bedrock and Amazon Q—has left to join DigitalOcean as its new chief product and technology officer

DigitalOcean has nabbed Amazon Web Services' AI general manager, Bratin Saha, as its new chief product and technology officer, a move the company said will help make DigitalOcean the "best cloud" for developers and growing businesses.

Saha spent the past six years at AWS as vice president and general manager for AI and machine learning and data infrastructure. He has also held executive positions at Nvidia and Intel.

At AWS, Saha led the creation of one of the fastest-growing AWS businesses and helped to build the multibillion-dollar generative AI business for AWS through products like Amazon SageMaker, Amazon Q, Amazon Bedrock, Vision and Language AI, and applied AI services like HealthAI, Industrial AI and others.

"DigitalOcean has a strong developer following and is well poised for path-breaking innovation," said Saha in a LinkedIn post Monday. "By applying the latest breakthroughs such as generative AI, we will provide the simplest, most cost-effective, and most productive platform for developers and growing technology businesses."

As its new chief product and technology officer, he will lead product strategy, development, infrastructure and security with a focus on making DigitalOcean the "best cloud for developers and growing technology businesses," according to DigitalOcean CEO Paddy Srinivasan.

Saha's history at Nvidia, Intel

Saha's expertise spans a wide range of IT domains, including generative AI, machine learning, cloud computing, distributed processing and hardware design.

Prior to AWS, Saha was a vice president at AI chip superstar Nvidia for two years, where he led software infrastructure for product lines around AI, GPU and mobile as well as functional safety for self-driving cars, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Saha spent the bulk of his IT career at Intel from 2002 to 2016. His last position at Intel was senior director of software development for image processing for products for Android, Linux and Windows. He also drove innovation at Intel around enabling smart devices such as phones, laptops and tablets, he wrote on LinkedIn.

Saha could not be reached by CRN US by press time for comment.

AWS' AI push

AWS is currently the world's largest cloud computing provider, owning 31 per cent share of the global cloud services market, followed by Microsoft at 25 per cent share, then Google at 11 per cent share.

AWS has invested millions in new generative AI and artificial intelligence innovation over the past 18 months. This includes the launch of Amazon Bedrock, GenAI assistant Amazon Q, several large language models (LLMs), AI foundation models and much more.

This month, AWS CEO Adam Selipsky departed the company and was replaced by 18-year AWS veteran Matt Garman.

DigitalOcean's AI and cloud push

DigitalOcean aims to simplify cloud computing so businesses can spend more time creating software.

With its infrastructure and managed offerings, DigitalOcean helps developers at start-ups and growing IT businesses rapidly build, deploy and scale, whether creating a digital presence or building digital products.

"AI innovation is powering the next evolution of software, and start-ups are at the heart of building the future," said Srinivasan in a statement Monday. "Adding Bratin and his unparalleled experience in AI and ML will enable DigitalOcean to continue playing a pivotal role as the premier developer cloud, optimised for start-ups and growing technology companies."