Meta India Head Sandhya Devanathan to Join OpenAI in Regional Leadership Role
Sandhya Devanathan is leaving Meta after a decade to join OpenAI as Southeast Asia and Australia vice president, taking charge of growth, partnerships and operations.
Sandhya Devanathan is leaving Meta after a decade to join OpenAI as Southeast Asia and Australia vice president, taking charge of growth, partnerships and operations.
Sandhya Devanathan is leaving Meta after nearly a decade.She will join OpenAI as vice president for Southeast Asia and Australia.Devanathan will oversee growth, partnerships and regional operations.
Sandhya Devanathan, Meta’s vice president and India head, is moving to OpenAI after spending around ten years with the social media company. She will take up a newly created regional leadership position covering Southeast Asia and Australia.
In her new role, Devanathan will be based in Singapore and report to Kiran Mani, OpenAI’s managing director for the Asia Pacific region. Her responsibilities will include expanding consumer adoption, strengthening enterprise use of OpenAI products and building partnerships across the region.
The role will also involve regulatory engagement and overseeing operations in Southeast Asian markets and Australia, giving Devanathan a broad mandate as OpenAI continues expanding its presence in the Asia Pacific region.
Devanathan joined Meta in 2016 and took over as the company’s India head in 2023. Before moving into the India leadership role, she played several important roles within Meta, including helping develop its businesses and teams in Singapore and Vietnam.
She also worked on Meta’s e commerce initiatives in Southeast Asia before moving to lead its Asia Pacific gaming business in 2020. The gaming division was among the company’s largest global business verticals at the time.
Announcing her departure on LinkedIn on Friday, Devanathan reflected on the early years of her Meta journey. She recalled joining the company in 2016, when its Singapore operation had around 300 employees.
She said the digital transformation landscape was very different at the time and highlighted the company’s work with startups, businesses, creators and the wider technology ecosystem across the region.
Meta also acknowledged her contribution to the company. Benjamin Joe, Meta’s vice president for Asia Pacific, praised Devanathan’s dedication, passion and drive, saying her work had left a lasting impact.
Following the leadership change, Arun Srinivas, Meta’s managing director and country head, will report directly to Joe. Srinivas had previously reported to Devanathan.
With more than 25 years of experience spanning banking, payments and technology, Devanathan brings extensive regional and business leadership experience to her new position at OpenAI. Her appointment comes as the company continues to strengthen its operations and partnerships across Asia Pacific.
