OpenAI is adding another senior regional leader as it builds out its Asia-Pacific presence. Sandhya Devanathan, Meta’s India and Southeast Asia vice president, is leaving the social media company to join OpenAI, the ChatGPT maker told TechCrunch.
Her move lands at a moment when both companies are under different kinds of pressure in the region: OpenAI is expanding offices and leadership, while Meta is facing closer attention from Indian authorities over platform safety issues.
What Devanathan Will Do at OpenAI
Devanathan will be based in Singapore and report to Kiran Mani, OpenAI’s Asia-Pacific managing director. OpenAI said she will oversee consumer growth, enterprise adoption and partnerships, regulatory engagement and operations across Southeast Asia and Australia.
That remit puts her at the center of several priorities for the company. Consumer growth relates to how products such as ChatGPT reach everyday users. Enterprise adoption points to business customers. Partnerships and regulatory engagement suggest a role that spans commercial expansion and government-facing work.
The appointment also follows another regional leadership hire. Days before Devanathan’s move became public, Prabhjeet Singh joined OpenAI as its India head. Singh had spent more than a decade at Uber, where he led its India and South Asia business.
OpenAI’s Regional Footprint Is Growing
OpenAI has been expanding its presence across the Asia Pacific over the past two years. The company has opened offices in Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney and Delhi during that period.
Devanathan’s role fits into that wider buildout. Southeast Asia and Australia are named as core parts of her portfolio, and her base in Singapore places her within one of the offices OpenAI has opened as part of its recent expansion.
The company’s leadership structure in the region is also becoming more defined. With Kiran Mani overseeing Asia-Pacific and Devanathan reporting to him, OpenAI is adding another layer of management for markets where consumer use, enterprise demand, partnerships and regulation all matter.
What Changes at Meta
Devanathan leaves Meta after more than a decade at the company. She joined Meta in 2016 and held several leadership roles, including leading its Asia Pacific gaming business. In June last year, she was appointed vice president for India and Southeast Asia.
Following her departure, Meta’s India managing director, Arun Srinivas, will report directly to Benjamin Joe, the company’s vice president for Asia-Pacific, a person familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.
Devanathan was involved in Meta’s decision process in India, a person familiar with the matter said. Her exit therefore comes at a sensitive time for the company’s operations in the country.
Meta Faces Pressure in India
Meta has recently faced growing pressure from Indian authorities. The scrutiny has centered on issues including online safety and content moderation.
Earlier this month, Meta apologized after Instagram mistakenly restricted a post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July. The Indian government summoned Meta executives including Joel Kaplan, the company’s chief global affairs officer, over the incident.
New Delhi has also raised concerns about child sexual abuse material on Meta’s platforms. Last month, the Indian government sought an explanation from the company after a BBC report found Instagram advertisements that allegedly offered access to such content.
Meta said in a blog post at the time that it had removed violating ads and accounts. The company also rejected suggestions that it knowingly targeted such advertisements at users based on inappropriate interests.
Meta additionally said it had removed 160,000 accounts in India over six months based on signals indicating child-exploitative activity.
Why the Move Matters
Devanathan’s shift from Meta to OpenAI connects two major themes in the technology industry: the expansion of AI platforms into more markets and the increasing regulatory pressure on large consumer internet companies.
For OpenAI, the hire adds a leader with experience across India, Southeast Asia and Asia Pacific business functions. Her responsibilities span growth, enterprise use, partnerships, regulatory work and operations, which means the role is not limited to a single commercial channel.
For Meta, the departure removes a senior regional executive at a time when its work in India is under public and government scrutiny. The reporting change for Arun Srinivas gives Meta a direct line from its India managing director to its Asia-Pacific vice president, Benjamin Joe.
The broader picture is clear from the facts in the source: OpenAI is continuing to build regional leadership and offices, while Meta is managing official attention tied to content moderation and online safety. Devanathan’s move sits directly between those two developments.