Expedia Group CTO Rathi Murthy out due to “violation of company policy”

Expedia Group chief technology officer Rathi Murthy and Sreenivas Rachamadugu, senior vice president of core services product and engineering, have both been let go, just days after the company’s big Explore 24 partner event in Las Vegas where Murthy unveiled the company's "Spring Release" of new products and updates on the main stage.

In a statement provided to PhocusWire, the company said, “Rathi Murthy, Chief Technology Officer, and Sreenivas Rachamadugu, Senior Vice President, Core Services Product & Engineering, are no longer employed at Expedia Group. This decision is the result of a violation of Company policy. We’re actively searching to fill these roles and remain confident in our technology, strategy and employees. Due to confidentiality, we will not be making any further comments on the matter.” 

On Saturday, GeekWire reported it had received the following statement from Murthy's spokesperson: “Throughout my career, I’ve conducted myself with a commitment to the highest level of integrity,” she said. “I am proud of my work at Expedia and have endeavored at all times to serve the best interests of the company. I look forward to sharing my story at the appropriate time and setting the record straight.”

Murthy joined Expedia Group in June 2021 - its first female CTO - after prior roles as CTO for Verizon Media and Gap and in leadership positions at American Express, eBay, Yahoo and more.

Shortly after she joined, then Expedia Group CEO Peter Kern told analysts on the company’s Q2 2021 earnings call, “ … we have to be a technology-first company. And to do that, we need great technology leadership. Rathi brings a world of experience to us. And as we move from our multi-stack, multi-domain enterprise that we've had historically into one platform that can service all our brands and all our business partners, it was really important to have great technical leadership across the organization. So, I won't belabor every technical gain, but we are making real progress. We have plenty of work still to do, but we are feeling quite optimistic about Rathi and the changes that she is bringing.”

Murthy led the company’s work to unify its technology stack in a single platform and implementation of the OneKey unified loyalty program in the past few years and also its aggressive work with generative artificial intelligence since early 2023.

Tuesday, the first day of Expedia Explore 24, most of Murthy's product announcements related to its ongoing integration of generative AI, including the launch of its new Romie trip planner.

According to LinkedIn, Rachamadugu joined Expedia Group shortly after Murthy, in September 2021, also coming from Verizon Media. According to an Expedia Group spokesperson, he did not attend Explore 24.

The Las Vegas event also marked the debut of Ariane Gorin as Expedia Group CEO, as Peter Kern stepped down after four years in the role. Gorin spoke to PhocusWire Monday about her priorities for the coming year in an interview that will publish next week, but, of course, finding a new CTO was not on the list at that time.