OpenAI has landed another regional leader, this time from Meta. Sandhya Devanathan, the social network’s vice president for India and Southeast Asia, will run growth, partnerships, and regulatory work for the lab across Southeast Asia and Australia from Singapore, reporting to Kiran Mani.
Her portfolio spans consumer growth, enterprise adoption, partnerships, regulatory engagement, and operations. Her Meta career began in 2016. She ran the company’s Asia-Pacific gaming unit for years, then took the India and Southeast Asia vice presidency in June 2025.
The lab has opened five offices across the region in the last two years, from Singapore to Sydney. Prabhjeet Singh, an ex-Uber leader, became its India head days ago, making Devanathan the second senior hire in quick succession.
The move lands as Meta’s ties with New Delhi strain. Earlier this month, Instagram briefly restricted a post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Meta issued an apology, and New Delhi called in company executives, including global affairs chief Joel Kaplan. A BBC investigation into Instagram ads that allegedly offered access to child sexual abuse material has also drawn government scrutiny. Domestically, the India managing director post stays with Arun Srinivas, whose new reporting line runs to Benjamin Joe, the Asia-Pacific vice president.
