Sandhya Devanathan, Meta’s Vice President for India and Southeast Asia, is leaving the company after more than a decade to join OpenAI. She will take up a newly created role as Vice President for Southeast Asia and Australia, adding a senior regional leader to OpenAI’s growing Asia-Pacific team.
Devanathan will be based in Singapore and report to Kiran Mani, OpenAI’s Managing Director for Asia-Pacific. Her new responsibilities will cover consumer growth, enterprise adoption, partnerships, regulatory engagement and operations across Southeast Asia and Australia. She is expected to work with businesses, institutions and governments as OpenAI expands its presence in the region.
Devanathan joined Meta in 2016, when the company’s Singapore operation was still relatively small. During her time at the social media company, she held several leadership positions across Asia-Pacific.
She worked on Meta’s businesses in Singapore and Vietnam and was involved in its e-commerce initiatives across Southeast Asia. In 2020, she took charge of Meta’s gaming business in the Asia-Pacific region before being appointed Vice President and Head of Meta India in late 2022. Her responsibilities were later expanded to include Southeast Asia.
During her tenure, Meta expanded its relationships with businesses, creators and government organizations across the region. Devanathan also highlighted the growth of small businesses using Meta platforms and government citizen services delivered through WhatsApp in India.
She announced her departure from Meta in a LinkedIn post, describing the decision as ‘bittersweet’ after more than ten years with the company. She said she planned to take a short break before starting her next chapter.
Devanathan’s move came as OpenAI accelerates its expansion across Asia-Pacific. The company opened offices in Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney and Delhi over the past two years while building a larger regional leadership team.
OpenAI is also strengthening its presence in India. Former Uber India and South Asia President Prabhjeet Singh joined the company in June as its India head, adding another senior executive to its regional expansion plans.
Devanathan’s new position gives her responsibility for markets covering more than 600 million people in Southeast Asia and Australia. The region is particularly important for OpenAI as it looks to expand the use of its products among consumers, companies and public institutions.
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At Meta, Arun Srinivas, the company’s India managing director and country head, will continue leading the India business. Meta had appointed Srinivas to the role in 2025 after expanding Devanathan’s responsibilities to include Southeast Asia.
Devanathan’s move from Meta to OpenAI highlights the growing competition for senior technology executives as companies race to build their businesses around the rapidly expanding AI industry.