Scale AI appoints Francis deSouza as new CEO

Scale AI, a leading provider of AI data and applications, has appointed Francis deSouza, a veteran enterprise technology executive, as its new chief executive officer, effective August 10, 2026. The move signals a strategic shift for the company as it expands beyond its core data-labeling business to focus on selling complete AI solutions to large corporations and governments.

DeSouza succeeds Jason Droege, who has served as interim CEO since June 2025 following the departure of founder Alexandr Wang. Wang left the company last year to lead Meta's artificial intelligence efforts after the social media giant invested $14.3 billion for a minority stake in Scale AI. Droege will work closely with deSouza over the coming months to ensure a smooth transition.

The appointment underscores Scale AI's evolving ambitions. The company built its reputation and multibillion-dollar valuation by supplying the high-quality, human-labeled training data essential for developing frontier AI models at labs like OpenAI and Anthropic. However, its applications business, which sells pre-built AI software to enterprises, is now growing rapidly and is projected to surpass its data business within the...