AI cloud company Lambda has shuffled its leadership team and appointed a new CEO.

The company has hired Michel Combes as its new CEO, while co-founder and former CEO Stephen Balaban is stepping into the role of CTO.

Combes has held many CEO roles over the years, most recently at ISP Brightspeed, and previously at Softbank International, Sprint, and Alcatel-Lucent.

As CEO, Combes aims to help Lambda expand its AI infrastructure foundation and will focus on capital formation, expanding the company's footprint, and establishing operating systems to keep pace with growth.

Combes said of his new role: "When I met Stephen and his team, and saw what they have built, I knew this was the opportunity I have been looking for. With Lambda’s technology, partnerships, and customer demand, its future is limited only by its ambition. I’m excited to contribute my experience leading capital-intensive businesses to continue scaling Lambda’s operational architecture and deploying capital to realize the incredible opportunities Lambda has earned."

Lambda's co-founder and previous CEO, Stephen Balaban, will now serve as CTO to lead the company's technology strategy and architecture. Co-founder Michael Balaban will serve as chief product officer.

In addition to hiring Combes, former CEO of AT&T Communications John Donovan has been brought in to serve as chairman of the board.

According to Lambda, the new appointments are part of the company's planned leadership build following its $1.5bn Series E funding round in November 2025. Other recent hires include Jerry Hunter, former COO of Snap and AWS infrastructure leader, as vice chairman of Compute Delivery, Charles Fisher, former CFO of Turo and senior finance executive at Charter Communications, as CFO, and David Connolly, former general counsel at Altice, as CLO.

Lambda was founded by the Balaban brothers in 2012. The company is targeting 3GW of compute capacity by 2030.