Who is Soumith Chintala? Indian-Origin Techie Landed Job at Meta After Facing Rejections from Twenty-Seven US Universities; Now CTO of 'Thinking Machines Lab’

REJECTIONS CAN DERAIL A PERSON from their ambitions. Even though ups and downs are a natural part of one’s life and career, repeated rejection can dishearten any individual from pursuing their goals. However, for Hyderabad-based tech professional Soumith Chintala, rejections didn’t deter him, instead it prompted him to work harder and smarter. Such was his drive, that Soumith landed a lucrative job offer at Meta, without a degree from top technology colleges, and now plays a crucial role in developing the tech giant’s top AI projects.

Soumith Chintala, an engineer hailing from Hyderabad, faced many rejections while he was trying to pursue his education abroad and trying to make his entry into the Artificial Intelligence (AI) job industry. He faced rejections from 27 American universities. Even though he did not graduate from top Indian tech institutions like the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) or National Institutes of Technology (NIT), Soumith now works one of the key contributors to modern artificial intelligence industry, and helped create Meta’s PyTorch, one of the world’s most widely used machine learning frameworks. 

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Born and raised in Hyderabad

Soumith Chintala was born and raised in Hyderabad. Growing up, his home didn't have a computer and he wasn’t good at mathematics either. After completing his schooling from Hyderabad Public School, he attained a Bachelors of technology graduate degree from VIT Vellore in 2009. Thereafter, Soumith made his plans to move to the United States to pursue his further education abroad.

However, gaining admission into American universities wasn't an easy feat for Soumith, who faced rejections from twenty-seven US universities. Yet, he remained persistent, and eventually was admitted into the New York University, (NYU) where he completed his master’s degree in computer science. At NYU, he worked under renowned Artificial Intelligence (AI) researcher Yann LeCun, one of the pioneers of deep learning.

Getting an education was one hurdle, however having a leg in the AI industry is even trickier, something Soumith learned soon after completing his education. After graduating from NYU in 2012, Soumith spent months trying to find a job in the industry, during which his visa expired and he was forced to leave America and return back home. 

Soumith Chintala’s Breakthrough: Joining Meta's FAIR Team 

Even after facing several rejections, Soumith continued applying to jobs. His breakthrough came in 2014, when he became part of Meta’s Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) team.

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Working at tech giant Meta was the career breakthrough that Soumith needed. There, he helped create PyTorch, an open-source deep learning framework. This project emerged to become one of the foundations of modern AI. Pytorch aims to make AI research more flexible and easier for developers, and as such it gained massive popularity amongst colleges, research labs, and tech firms. PyTorch is now one of the staple of tech giants like OpenAI, Tesla, and Meta,  helping boost research and applications.

Soumith Chintala’s Journey: From Meta to CTO of Thinking Machines Lab 

Soumith spent over 11 years at Meta, wherein he rose to the position of Vice-President. However, in 2025, Soumit quit ties with Meta to explore new opportunities, and joined Thinking Machines Lab, an AI firm funded by Open AI's former Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Mira Murati. Soumith now stands at a top executive position at Thinking Machines Lab, serving as its Chief Technology Officer.

Soumith's journey is a powerful reminder that life and career stops with rejections. One can view a rejection as a failure, or can employ Soumith's mantra to treat rejection as another rung on the ladder towards success.

(Edited by Ritik Singh)

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