OpenAI Hires Meta’s Devanathan for Southeast Asia and Australia Growth, Policy

OpenAI has hired Sandhya Devanathan, Meta’s vice president for India and Southeast Asia, for a Singapore-based role covering Southeast Asia and Australia. Her portfolio combines consumer growth, enterprise adoption, partnerships, regulatory engagement and regional operations.

Devanathan will report to OpenAI Asia-Pacific managing director Kiran Mani. The role joins the company’s routes to individual and business users with the partnership, operational and government-facing work needed across the region.

Two new leadership assignments, different geographies

Days before Devanathan’s appointment, OpenAI named Prabhjeet Singh its India head. Singh previously led Uber’s India and South Asia business. OpenAI has also opened offices in Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney and Delhi during the past two years.

Meta’s India handoff

Devanathan joined Meta in 2016, held leadership roles including leading its Asia-Pacific gaming business, and became vice president for India and Southeast Asia in June of the previous year. Following her departure, Meta India managing director Arun Srinivas will report directly to Benjamin Joe, Meta’s vice president for Asia-Pacific, according to a person familiar with the change.

Scrutiny in India continues

The management change comes as Meta faces pressure from Indian authorities over moderation and online safety. Earlier this month, Meta apologized after Instagram mistakenly restricted a July post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi; the government then summoned Meta executives, including chief global affairs officer Joel Kaplan, over the incident.

Last month, India sought an explanation after a BBC report found Instagram advertisements that allegedly offered access to child sexual abuse material. Meta said it removed ads and accounts that violated its rules, rejected suggestions that it knowingly targeted such ads using inappropriate interests, and said it removed 160,000 Indian accounts over six months based on signals of child-exploitative activity.

Devanathan’s OpenAI remit includes regulatory engagement, but the account does not connect her departure from Meta to these Indian episodes.