Meta’s Sandhya Devanathan exits after decade, joins OpenAI as Southeast Asia, Australia VP

BENGALURU: Meta’s vice-president for India and Southeast Asia Sandhya Devanathan is leaving the social media giant after more than a decade to join OpenAI, where she will become vice-president for Southeast Asia and Australia.Devanathan will be based in Singapore and report to Kiran Mani, OpenAI’s managing director for Asia-Pacific. The newly created position makes her the ChatGPT maker’s most senior executive across Southeast Asia and Australia. OpenAI confirmed the development.Her remit will span consumer growth, enterprise adoption and partnerships, regulatory engagement and operations. She will also focus on building partnerships across the AI ecosystem and expanding the use of OpenAI’s products among businesses, institutions and government bodies in the region.Devanathan announced her departure from Meta in a LinkedIn post on Friday, describing it as a “bittersweet decision” after more than a decade at the company. She said she would take a short break before beginning her next chapter.She joined Meta in 2016 and held a string of leadership positions across Asia-Pacific, including running its regional gaming business and helping expand the company’s presence in Singapore and Vietnam. She was named Meta’s India head in late 2022 and later took on responsibility for Southeast Asia as well.Devanathan, who has more than 25 years of experience across technology and financial services, recalled joining Meta when it had around 300 employees in Singapore. During her stint, she worked across ecommerce and gaming and led teams serving businesses, creators and users across India and Southeast Asia.In her farewell post, she highlighted Meta’s work with government citizen services on WhatsApp in India, small businesses using its platforms in Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand, and startups across Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.Her appointment comes as OpenAI steps up its presence across Asia-Pacific amid rising adoption of generative AI by consumers, developers and enterprises. Over the past two years, the company has opened offices in Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney and Delhi.OpenAI has also been adding senior regional executives. Mani was recently appointed to lead Asia-Pacific, while Prabhjeet Singh is set to head its India business.The move makes Devanathan one of the most senior Meta executives in the region to cross over to the fast-growing generative AI sector.Get the latest Business News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.