Sandhya Devanathan exits Meta after a decade; to join OpenAI as VP South East Asia, Australia

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Meta's Vice President and Head for India and South East Asia, Sandhya Devanathan, is leaving the social media giant after more than a decade and is all set to join OpenAI as Vice President for South East Asia and Australia.

In this newly-created role, Devanathan will be OpenAI’s most senior leader in South East Asia and Australia, with responsibility for its performance across consumer growth, enterprise adoption and partnerships, regulatory engagement and operations.

The Meta veteran penned an emotional post on LinkedIn, announcing her departure from the social media giant and said she is looking forward to her "next exciting chapter". She, however, did not divulge her next move.

OpenAI confirmed that Devanathan will join as Vice President for Southeast Asia and Australia. She will be based in Singapore and report to Kiran Mani, OpenAI's Managing Director for Asia Pacific, the ChatGPT-maker confirmed.

Devanathan's joining date at OpenAI could not be immediately ascertained.

Notably, the appointment comes as OpenAI expands its presence across Asia Pacific amid growing adoption of its AI tools among consumers, enterprises and developers.

Over the past two years, OpenAI has opened local offices in Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney and Delhi, and expanded its regional leadership team with the recent appointment of Kiran Mani as Managing Director for APAC.

In June this year, the Sam Altman-led company announced the appointment of Prabhjeet Singh as Managing Director for India, among its top-priority markets and one where the company has been stepping up investments and expanding its footprint.

In fact, OpenAI has been moving its India strategy to top gear through partnerships with enterprises and developers, while strengthening engagement with policymakers. The company opened its first office in New Delhi in November 2025.

Altman himself has repeatedly described India as one of OpenAI's key markets and has praised the country's rapid AI uptake and commitment to investing across the tech stack.

Devanathan brings more than 25 years of experience across the technology and financial services sectors. She joined Meta in 2016 and held several leadership roles across the region, including leading its Asia Pacific gaming business and helping expand the company's presence in Singapore and Vietnam.

In the LinkedIn post, Devanathan described the decision to leave after more than a decade as "bittersweet" and said she would take a short break before beginning her "next exciting chapter".

"I joined Meta when we had just about 300 employees in Singapore," she recounted and reflected on how the landscape looked "so different" in 2016, with everyone talking about digital transformation.