AI cloud Nscale has poached Meta's Justin Osofsky as its new chief operating officer.

The neocloud has made the hire ahead of its plans for an initial public offering, which it is said to be hoping will raise as much as $3 billion.

Osofsky will report directly to CEO and founder Josh Payne.

Prior to joining Nscale, Osofsky served at Meta for almost two decades, most recently holding the title of chief partnerships officer.

In a LinkedIn post, Osofsky said: "After 18 years at Meta, I'm joining Josh Payne and the team Nscale as its new chief operating officer. Meta is where I have spent most of my career and is a remarkable company. I learned so much from the people I worked with and leave behind wonderful colleagues and, more importantly, close friends.

"In Josh's recent founder letter, he writes, 'discipline remains central to how we scale.' That line stuck with me as I decided to make this move. Growing with discipline is what lasts. I'm joining Nscale to be a partner to Josh. He and the team have built something impressive, and I'm excited to help guide the company into its next phase."

CEO Payner said: "Nscale is rapidly scaling our vertically integrated platform globally to serve high customer demand. Building the right systems and processes that scale and maintain operational excellence is of vital importance to our mission. Justin has spent nearly two decades helping build and scale one of the most successful technology companies in the world. We are incredibly fortunate to have him join us as our chief operating officer."

The company has also added Amy Banse to its board of directors today. In addition to Nscale, Banse is on the boards of Adobe, Lennar Corporation, and On Holding AG.

Nscale recently secured $3.36bn in pre-IPO funding. It has published its IPO prospectus and is looking to list on the Nasdaq market.

In other workforce news:

• Tommy Browder joins OpenAI as a powered land developer. Browder was previously senior director of development at Advanced Power.
• Google's VP of AI and infrastructure, Otto Chan, has joined Mastercard, where he takes the role of EVP and CTO, infrastructure and operations.