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Naveen Rao

As of October 2026, Naveen Rao is co-founder and CEO of Unconventional AI, a company focused on extremely low-power inference computing. He co-founded Nervana Systems, an AI company, in 2014, and Intel agreed to acquire it in August 2016. Rao led Intel's Artificial Intelligence Products Group from March 2017 and stayed at Intel until 2020. He founded MosaicML in 2020, and Databricks agreed in June 2023 to buy it in a deal valued at about $1.3 billion. In September 2025 he stepped back from Databricks' day-to-day operations, and Unconventional AI raised a $475 million seed round in December 2025.

Now at
Unconventional AI

Timeline

  1. 2014

    Co-founding Nervana Systems

    He co-founds Nervana Systems, an AI company, in 2014 as its CEO. He holds a BSEE from Duke University and a PhD in computational neuroscience from Brown University.

  2. August 2016

    Sale of Nervana to Intel

    Intel agrees to acquire Nervana Systems in August 2016.

  3. 2017–2020

    Running Intel's AI products group

    Intel forms its Artificial Intelligence Products Group in March 2017, with Rao as vice president and general manager. He stays at Intel until 2020.

  4. 2020

    Founding MosaicML

    He founds MosaicML in 2020, a company focused on training and deploying large AI models.

  5. June 2023

    Deal to acquire MosaicML

    In June 2023 Databricks signs a definitive agreement to acquire MosaicML, a deal valued at about $1.3 billion.

  6. September 2025

    Stepping back from Databricks

    He steps away from Databricks' day-to-day operations in September 2025 and keeps an advisory role at the company.

  7. December 2025

    Unconventional AI's seed round

    Unconventional AI raises a $475 million seed round in December 2025 at a $4.5 billion valuation, led by Lightspeed and Andreessen Horowitz.

  8. As of October 2026

    Chief executive of Unconventional AI

    He is co-founder and CEO of Unconventional AI, which focuses on extremely low-power inference computing.

Sources and credits

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  1. Nervana Systems - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  2. Meet Naveen Rao, speaker at HumanX | San Francisco | April 6-9, 2026 humanx.co. Checked 15 October 2026.
  3. Deep learning company acquired by Intel | Vision Systems Design vision-systems.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  4. Intel merges its AI operations into a new unit, focusing on new chips and software | PCWorld pcworld.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  5. Intel launches a dedicated AI group and research lab - SiliconANGLE siliconangle.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  6. Jeff Bezos backs $475M seed round for chip startup Unconventional AI - SiliconANGLE siliconangle.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  7. Sources: Naveen Rao’s new AI hardware startup targets $5B valuation with backing from a16z | TechCrunch techcrunch.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  8. Databricks Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire MosaicML, a Leading Generative AI Platform - Databricks databricks.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  9. Naveen Rao: Indian-Origin AI leader exits Databricks to launch AI computing startup - India TV News indiatvnews.com. Checked 15 October 2026.