Meta's Chief Strategy Officer and former Chief Financial Officer, Dave Wehner, has announced his departure from the company to join artificial intelligence startup Fireworks AI as its Chief Financial Officer, ending a 14-year tenure at the social media and technology company.
Wehner confirmed the move in a post on X, stating that his growing interest in enterprise AI and the opportunities associated with open-source models influenced his decision to join the four-year-old startup.
Fireworks AI, led by CEO Lin Qiao, provides AI infrastructure that enables developers and businesses to customise, train and deploy open AI models. The company operates in the growing market for AI inference and model deployment services.
Wehner joined Meta, then known as Facebook, in 2012 and served as its Chief Financial Officer from 2014 until 2022. He subsequently moved into the role of Chief Strategy Officer, overseeing strategic priorities during a period of significant investment in artificial intelligence and other technologies.
Announcing his departure, Wehner thanked Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and expressed confidence in the company's future.
He said his experience at Meta had strengthened his interest in enterprise AI, particularly the potential for businesses to develop specialised AI systems using their own data and expertise.
According to Wehner, open AI models could make these technologies more accessible to organisations by offering different cost structures and greater flexibility.
At Fireworks AI, he will oversee financial operations as the company expands its business and competes for enterprise customers seeking AI infrastructure and deployment services.
Qiao welcomed the appointment, stating that Wehner's experience in managing large-scale operations would support the startup's next phase of development.
Founded in 2022 by former Meta and Google employees, Fireworks AI has attracted investments from companies and venture capital firms including Nvidia and Sequoia Capital.
The startup was valued at approximately $17.5 billion following a Series D funding round in July 2026.
According to reports, Fireworks has also held preliminary discussions regarding another financing round that could value the company between $30 billion and $40 billion.
However, those discussions remain at an early stage, and no new funding agreement or valuation has been confirmed.
Meta Chief Operating Officer Javier Olivan acknowledged Wehner's contributions, highlighting his role in supporting the company's growth and navigating strategic decisions over the past 14 years.
The appointment comes as AI infrastructure companies compete to provide enterprises with tools for running and managing increasingly complex AI workloads.
Fireworks AI's services focus on helping organisations deploy and operate AI models without building all the underlying infrastructure independently.
The company has not disclosed the financial terms of Wehner's appointment or announced further changes to its executive leadership structure.
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