Meta Executive Sandhya Devanathan Joins OpenAI as VP for Southeast Asia and Australia

Meta’s executive Sandhya Devanathan is joining OpenAI as vice president for Southeast Asia and Australia starting October. AtMeta, she served as vice president and head of India and Southeast Asia for over a decade. Devanathan will be OpenAI’s senior-most leader in Southeast Asia and Australia. Based in Singapore, she will report to Kiran Mani, OpenAI’s managing director for Asia-Pacific.

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What Does Sandhya Devanathan’s Role in OpenAI Entail?

Devanathan’s new role will focus on enterprise adoption, consumer growth, and regulatory engagement in a market whose population tops 600 million people. Her appointment is OpenAI’s third senior regional hire in six months.

Kiran Mani joined the AI firm as managing director for Asia-Pacific in March. OpenAI hired Prabhjeet Singh to head operations in India in June. Devanathan’s role is part of OpenAI’s Asia expansion plan as the company seeks to consolidate its influence in the region. Since opening its first office in New Delhi in November 2025, OpenAI has focused on implementing its India strategy through enterprise and developer partnerships.

Singh’s appointment as managing director highlighted the value OpenAI places on India, which is one of its key markets. With Devanathan’s appointment, OpenAI is seeking to strengthen its influence in Indonesia and the Philippines. The two countries are among its leading markets globally in terms of ChatGPT usage.

Varying Approaches for Europe and Asia

Devanathan’s appointment highlights differences in how OpenAI is expanding its presence across Southeast Asia and Europe. While the company is expanding across Europe, its investments are mainly focused on policy, compliance and support rather than building major new markets.

In July, the AI firm expanded its footprint in Europe after hiring an additional 250 employees at its Dublin office. In Europe, OpenAI plans to grow its staff significantly. This is different from Asia where the company is focused on generating revenue.

Sandhya Devanathan’s Decade at Meta

During her tenure at Meta, Devanathan worked across the gaming and ecommerce sectors in the Asia-Pacific region. Some of the milestones that the senior executive delivered included WhatsApp adoption for government citizen services in India.

In Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia, she helped small businesses launch to storefronts startup. In Singapore, Philippines, and Malaysia, her team helped startups to scale into unicorns.

“I shared with my teams today that I am extraordinarily proud of how they’ve shown up everyday, doing the best work they can in an industry that is rapidly evolving. I’m proud of the work we’ve done together,” Devanathan posted on LinkedIn.

Why Devanathan’s Hire Matters to OpenAI

Devanathan’s hire gives OpenAI a seasoned regional leader as it works to convert strong ChatGPT usage into deeper business growth. Her experience at Meta could help the AI company expand partnerships, win enterprise customers and navigate regulations. The appointment suggests that Southeast Asia and Australia will play an increasingly important role in OpenAI’s global growth strategy.