Meta executive Sandhya Devanathan leaves for OpenAI

Aug 28, 2026

Sandhya Devanathan, Meta's Vice President for India and Southeast Asia, is leaving the company to join OpenAI as its senior-most leader for Southeast Asia and Australia starting October 2026. Based in Singapore, Devanathan will oversee regional growth and regulatory engagement. Her departure comes as Meta faces intense regulatory scrutiny in India over content moderation, including child safety issues and the mistaken restriction of Prime Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Instagram post.

Devanathan joins OpenAI

▪Sandhya Devanathan will serve as OpenAI's senior-most leader in Southeast Asia and Australia, starting her new role in October 2026
▪Sandhya Devanathan, Meta's Vice President for India and Southeast Asia, is leaving Meta to join OpenAI
▪Sandhya Devanathan will oversee consumer growth, enterprise adoption, partnerships, regulatory engagement, and operations across Southeast Asia and Australia for OpenAI
▪Sandhya Devanathan joined Meta in 2016 and held several leadership roles, including leading its Asia Pacific gaming business, before becoming Vice President for India and Southeast Asia in June 2025
▪In her Singapore-based role at OpenAI, Sandhya Devanathan will report to OpenAI's Asia-Pacific managing director, Kiran Mani

OpenAI Southeast Asia expansion

▪OpenAI has expanded its presence across the Asia Pacific region by opening offices in Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney, and Delhi over the past two years
▪OpenAI appointed Prabhjeet Singh, the former head of Uber's India and South Asia business, as its India head shortly before hiring Sandhya Devanathan

Meta India regulatory pressure

▪The Indian government sought an explanation from Meta in July 2026 after a BBC report identified Instagram advertisements allegedly offering access to child sexual abuse material
▪The Indian government summoned Meta executives, including Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan, following the mistaken restriction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Instagram post
▪Meta has faced growing pressure from Indian authorities, including being summoned over an incident where Instagram mistakenly restricted a post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July 2026

Instagram content moderation issues

▪Meta stated it removed 160,000 accounts in India over a six-month period based on signals indicating child-exploitative activity
▪Meta apologized for mistakenly restricting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Instagram post and stated it removed violating ads and accounts related to child-exploitative activity

Meta leadership restructuring

▪Sandhya Devanathan was involved in Meta's decision-making processes in India prior to her departure to join OpenAI
▪Following Sandhya Devanathan's departure, Meta's India Managing Director, Arun Srinivas, will report directly to Benjamin Joe, Meta's Vice President for Asia-Pacific