August 28, 2026 – OpenAI is strengthening its leadership structure across Asia-Pacific with the appointment of Sandhya Devanathan, former Meta executive, to lead its operations across Southeast Asia and Australia.
Devanathan is expected to take charge in October 2026 and will become OpenAI’s senior-most leader for the region. Her responsibilities will include driving consumer growth, expanding enterprise adoption, developing strategic partnerships, overseeing regional operations and engaging with governments and other authorities.
The appointment comes as OpenAI continues to expand the reach of ChatGPT and its broader artificial intelligence ecosystem across Asia-Pacific.
Sandhya Devanathan to Lead OpenAI’s Southeast Asia Operations
Devanathan brings experience from Meta and will oversee OpenAI’s activities across Southeast Asia and Australia.
Her new mandate covers several of the key areas OpenAI is targeting as AI adoption accelerates across the region.
These include:
- Consumer growth and ChatGPT adoption
- Enterprise AI adoption
- Strategic partnerships
- Regional operations
- Government and regulatory engagement
The creation of a dedicated senior leadership role highlights the growing importance of Southeast Asia and Australia within OpenAI’s international expansion strategy.
OpenAI Builds a Stronger Asia-Pacific Leadership Team
Devanathan’s appointment follows a series of senior leadership hires aimed at strengthening OpenAI’s presence across Asia-Pacific.
Earlier in 2026, OpenAI appointed Kiran Mani, formerly with JioStar, as Managing Director for Asia Pacific, based in Singapore.
In June, the company also named Prabhjeet Singh, former President of Uber India and South Asia, as Managing Director for India.
Singh is expected to join OpenAI in September 2026 and report to Mani.
Together, the appointments point toward a more structured regional leadership model, with dedicated executives responsible for different geographic markets and business priorities.
Why Southeast Asia Matters for OpenAI
Southeast Asia represents a major growth opportunity for artificial intelligence companies as businesses, consumers and governments increasingly experiment with AI-powered products and services.
For OpenAI, regional growth is likely to depend on more than consumer adoption of ChatGPT. Enterprise deployments, strategic partnerships, local market relationships and engagement with regulators are becoming increasingly important as AI moves into areas such as customer service, software development, productivity and business operations.
Australia also represents a significant enterprise and technology market, making the combined regional leadership role strategically important for OpenAI.
OpenAI Expands Beyond Consumer AI
The leadership changes also reflect how OpenAI’s business is evolving.
While ChatGPT remains the company’s most visible consumer product, OpenAI has increasingly focused on enterprise AI, APIs, developer tools and partnerships with businesses.
A regional leadership team can help the company adapt its global AI products to local enterprise requirements, partnerships and regulatory environments.
For Southeast Asian markets in particular, the ability to support multilingual users and work with businesses and governments across different regulatory frameworks could become increasingly important.
India Becomes a Key Part of OpenAI’s Asia Strategy
OpenAI’s recent appointment of Prabhjeet Singh as its India Managing Director further underlines the importance of India within the company’s Asia-Pacific expansion.
India combines a large technology workforce, a rapidly expanding startup ecosystem and a growing base of enterprises experimenting with generative AI.
With Singh expected to report to Kiran Mani, and Devanathan taking responsibility for Southeast Asia and Australia, OpenAI is establishing a leadership structure designed to support growth across multiple major markets.
What the Appointments Signal
The appointments of Sandhya Devanathan, Kiran Mani and Prabhjeet Singh suggest that OpenAI is moving toward a more localized approach to international expansion.
Rather than relying solely on a global product strategy, the company is building regional leadership capabilities around:
Consumer adoption → Enterprise AI → Partnerships → Operations → Government engagement
This could become increasingly important as competition in the global AI market intensifies and governments establish new rules around artificial intelligence, data and digital infrastructure.
The Bottom Line
OpenAI’s appointment of Sandhya Devanathan marks another significant step in the company’s expansion across Asia-Pacific.
With Devanathan leading Southeast Asia and Australia, Kiran Mani overseeing Asia Pacific and Prabhjeet Singh preparing to lead India, OpenAI is assembling a senior regional leadership team at a time when AI adoption is accelerating across the continent.
The next phase of the AI race may not only be about building better models. It will also be about who can build the strongest regional ecosystems around them.
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Ruchi Kumar is the associate editor at Entrepreneur News Network and TVW News India, where she leads editorial strategy, brand storytelling, and startup ecosystem coverage. With a strong focus on innovation, business, and marketing insights, he curates impactful narratives that spotlight India’s evolving entrepreneurial landscape. She has written extensively on fintech, AI and emerging startups.