Meet Krishna Rao, the Anthropic CFO who considers compute power as ‘lifeblood of business’

In a recent conversation on the ‘Invest Like The Best’ show with Patrick O’Shaughnessy, Rao, who is Anthropic’s first CFO, shared a glimpse into the company’s aggressive infrastructure strategy, the challenges of balancing surging demand with resource constraints, and his vision for AI’s long-term impact on society.

Krishna Rao: An introduction to Anthropic’s CFO

Rao joined Anthropic as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in May 2024 and has played a crucial role in its rapid growth. Rao’s multi-billion-dollar fundraising efforts, massive compute infrastructure deals, and preparations for potential public markets have made Anthropic a household name.

Being of Indian origin, Rao grew up in a middle-class family in California, with his family placing a strong emphasis on education and academic excellence. In previous interviews, he has spoken about the influence of his elder brother, who made a selfless choice regarding college admissions to support the family.

As a result, Rao took his education seriously. He holds an A.B. in Economics from Harvard University, where he graduated summa cum laude in 2005 – one of the highest academic distinctions. He later earned a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Yale Law School in 2011. His specialisation in legal training has complemented his finance expertise, particularly in corporate development, capital raising, and strategic decision-making.

Rao’s career highlights

Prior to Anthropic, Rao brings nearly two decades of experience in strategic finance, private equity, consulting, and operational leadership:

– He began as a management consultant at Bain & Company, working in San Francisco and New Delhi on growth strategy and private equity due diligence.

– He then worked with Blackstone, serving as a Principal in the Private Equity Group in New York, evaluating and executing investments in consumer, retail, business services, and fintech sectors.

– He was with Airbnb from 2015–2021, holding key roles including Global Head of Corporate & Business Development and leadership in Corporate and Operations FP&A. He helped navigate the company through the COVID-19 pandemic, raised over $10 billion in equity and debt (including the 2020 IPO), and executed acquisitions and partnerships.

– He also worked with Cedar, joining as the first CFO of the healthcare payments and patient engagement platform, overseeing finance, legal, and strategic growth.

– Prior to Anthropic, he joined Fanatics Commerce (2023–2024), serving as CFO.

At Anthropic, Rao has overseen significant capital raises (including a $30 billion Series G round). He also secured landmark compute deals exceeding $100 billion with partners like Google, Amazon, and Broadcom. Rao also managed explosive revenue growth from a modest base to tens of billions in annualised run rate.

Rao’s focus on ‘compute’ dominates everything

In the podcast, Rao revealed that he spends 30% to 40% of his time on compute-related decisions, describing it as the “lifeblood” of Anthropic’s business. Anthropic allocates computing resources across internal research, model training, and external applications while operating on multiple chip platforms.

The company’s approach evolved from early use of third-generation TPUs, with significant investments in optimisation to improve efficiency across workloads. This flexibility has become essential as demand continues to outpace available infrastructure.

Compute, as a result, secures future capacity. Anthropic has inked landmark agreements, including:

– A 5-gigawatt deal with Google and Broadcom for TPUs, set to begin in 2027.

– A deal with Amazon for up to 5 gigawatts of Trainium chips.

These commitments form part of a broader investment exceeding $100 billion. Rao noted that substantial compute is already being deployed and will continue rolling out throughout the year, thus addressing the concerns of bottlenecks.

AI can deliver ‘tangible results’

The podcast didn’t stick to Anthropic’s investment commitments only. Rao took the opportunity to discuss AI’s transformative potential – from advancing treatments for rare diseases to raising living standards and accelerating scientific progress. He expressed particular excitement about delivering tangible, real-world benefits.

Rao also stressed transparency and balanced perspectives. He noted that people respond better to honest discussions about both opportunities and risks, especially during periods of rapid technological changes, where unintended consequences can arise quickly.

“I think on the other side, though, we do, and this is again cultural to us, like we do want to articulate the risks. I don’t think we should just tell everyone everything is going to be great because there are likely to be bumps on the road,” he said in the podcast.