OpenAI Strengthens Asia-Pacific Push With Meta Executive Sandhya Devanathan Appointment

OpenAI is expanding its leadership presence across the Asia-Pacific region with the appointment of longtime Meta executive Sandhya Devanathan as Vice President for Southeast Asia and Australia.

Devanathan is leaving Meta after more than a decade with the company and will take up a newly created regional position at OpenAI. She will be based in Singapore and report to Kiran Mani, OpenAI’s Managing Director for Asia-Pacific.

A New Regional Leadership Role

In her new position, Devanathan will oversee several important areas of OpenAI’s business across Southeast Asia and Australia.

Her responsibilities will include expanding consumer adoption, developing enterprise relationships, building partnerships, engaging with regulators and managing regional operations. The appointment makes her OpenAI’s senior-most executive focused on these markets.

The move comes as artificial intelligence companies compete aggressively to increase their presence in rapidly developing Asian markets.

OpenAI Expands Across Asia

OpenAI has been increasing its presence throughout Asia-Pacific over the past two years. The company has established operations in locations including Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney and New Delhi.

The company has also strengthened its regional leadership structure. Kiran Mani took responsibility for the broader Asia-Pacific region earlier this year, while former Uber India and South Asia leader Prabhjeet Singh was appointed to lead OpenAI’s India operations.

Devanathan’s appointment adds another experienced regional executive to that expanding leadership team.

Why Southeast Asia Matters

Southeast Asia represents a major growth opportunity for artificial intelligence companies because of its large and increasingly digital population.

OpenAI has identified Indonesia and the Philippines among its top global markets for ChatGPT users. The wider Southeast Asian region is home to more than 600 million people, giving companies significant opportunities to expand consumer and enterprise AI adoption.

Devanathan will therefore be responsible for a region where AI adoption could grow rapidly across businesses, educational institutions, developers and individual users.

Devanathan’s Long Career at Meta

Devanathan joined Meta in 2016, when the company’s Singapore operation was considerably smaller than it is today.

During her decade at the company, she worked in several leadership positions across Asia-Pacific. Her responsibilities included Singapore and Vietnam operations, e-commerce initiatives and Meta’s regional gaming business.

She later became Meta’s India leader and subsequently took responsibility for Southeast Asia as well.

Her experience spans more than 25 years across technology and financial services, giving her extensive exposure to both digital businesses and regional markets.

Meta Changes Its India Reporting Structure

Devanathan’s departure will also result in a change to Meta’s India leadership structure.

Arun Srinivas, Meta’s Managing Director and Country Head for India, will now report directly to Benjamin Joe, Meta’s Vice President for Asia-Pacific.

The change is expected to allow Meta to continue its India operations under its existing leadership while Devanathan begins her new regional role at OpenAI.

From Social Platforms to Artificial Intelligence

Devanathan’s move reflects a broader shift taking place across the technology industry, where experienced executives are moving between major social-media, technology and artificial-intelligence companies.

Her background at Meta gives her experience in consumer platforms, business partnerships, digital commerce and regional operations—areas that are increasingly important as AI companies move beyond research and technology development toward large-scale commercial adoption.

OpenAI’s decision to create a dedicated senior position for Southeast Asia and Australia indicates that regional expansion is becoming a significant part of its wider business strategy.

Focus on Consumers, Businesses and Governments

One of the key challenges for AI companies in Asia-Pacific is adapting products and partnerships to different markets and regulatory environments.

Devanathan’s mandate includes regulatory engagement as well as commercial growth. That means her work is expected to involve relationships with businesses, institutions and governments alongside efforts to expand consumer usage.

Her experience working across multiple Asian markets could be particularly relevant as OpenAI seeks to build long-term partnerships throughout the region.

A Strategic Appointment for OpenAI

The appointment comes at a time when competition in the global AI industry is intensifying. Companies are racing to establish strong positions in consumer AI, enterprise software and developer services.

For OpenAI, strengthening its leadership team in Asia-Pacific could help the company pursue growth in markets where digital adoption is already accelerating.

Devanathan’s transition from Meta to OpenAI therefore represents more than an individual executive move. It also highlights the growing importance of Asia-Pacific in the global competition to build and deploy artificial intelligence at scale.

As she prepares to take charge of OpenAI’s Southeast Asia and Australia operations, attention will now turn to how the company converts its growing regional presence into broader consumer adoption, enterprise partnerships and long-term AI development across the region.