OpenAI Appoints Former Meta Executive Sandhya Devanathan to Lead Southeast Asia and Australia Operations

OpenAI has appointed former Meta Platforms Inc. executive Sandhya Devanathan to lead its operations across Southeast Asia and Australia. Based in Singapore, she will oversee consumer growth, enterprise adoption, partnerships, operations, and regulatory engagement starting in October.

NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE — Artificial intelligence firm OpenAI has appointed Sandhya Devanathan as its senior-most leader for Southeast Asia and Australia. In this newly created role, she will be responsible for overseeing consumer growth, enterprise adoption, partnerships, operations, and engagement with regulators. She is set to begin her new role in October and will be based in Singapore.

Devanathan joins OpenAI after a long tenure at Meta Platforms Inc., which she joined in 2016. Most recently, she served as Meta's vice president for India and Southeast Asia, and prior to that, she led the company's gaming business in the Asia-Pacific region. She announced her departure from Meta on LinkedIn, while an OpenAI spokesperson confirmed her appointment.

In her new position, Devanathan will report to Kiran Mani, OpenAI's managing director for Asia-Pacific, who joined the company in March. OpenAI is currently competing with rivals such as Anthropic PBC and Alphabet Inc.’s Google to capture users in key international markets.

The expansion comes as populous Asian markets present significant growth opportunities for the artificial intelligence sector. According to OpenAI, Indonesia and the Philippines currently rank among the company's top 10 markets globally by ChatGPT users.

Over the past two years, OpenAI has established offices in several key Asian cities, including Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney, and New Delhi. The company has also been scaling its regional leadership team, which includes the June hiring of Prabhjeet Singh from Uber Technologies Inc. to lead its business operations in India.

"The appointment of experienced regional leaders by global technology firms highlights the strategic importance of Asian markets for artificial intelligence adoption. As companies like OpenAI establish local leadership and expand their physical presence in Singapore, India, and other key hubs, we can expect a stronger focus on enterprise partnerships, consumer growth, and navigating regulatory frameworks tailored to specific regional requirements. This is a logical step for scaling operations in high-growth territories." — Dr. Shishir Gupta, Founder & CEO, StartupLanes