OpenAI has named Prabhjeet Singh, previously the President of Uber India and South Asia, as its Managing Director for India. Singh is set to assume his new role in September, reporting to Kiran Mani, OpenAI's managing director for Asia Pacific. He will be responsible for overseeing OpenAI's performance in India, encompassing crucial areas such as consumer growth, enterprise adoption, partnerships, regulatory engagement, and overall operations in the country.
This appointment marks a significant move for OpenAI in India, a market CEO Sam Altman has described as its second-largest after the United States. Singh's mandate includes fostering partnerships, bolstering India's broader artificial intelligence ecosystem, and ensuring that more consumers, businesses, institutions, and government bodies can effectively leverage AI technologies. His prior experience at Uber, where he led the mobility business across India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh since 2020, is expected to be instrumental in this role.
OpenAI's increased focus on India is evident through several recent initiatives. The company opened its first office in New Delhi in August of the previous year and plans to establish new offices in Mumbai and Bengaluru. It has also made other key hires, including Pragya Misra to lead public policy and partnerships, and Rishi Jaitly as a senior adviser for government engagement. These efforts underscore India's growing importance as a strategic market for AI companies, driven by its large internet user base and increasing demand for generative AI solutions even as rival Anthropic also expands rapidly in the region.
