Key facts
- OpenAI has appointed Prabhjeet Singh, former Uber India and South Asia president, as its first managing director for India.
- Singh will be responsible for scaling OpenAI's presence in India, focusing on consumer growth, enterprise adoption, partnerships, regulatory engagement, and operations.
- India is considered OpenAI's second-largest market after the U.S.
- OpenAI opened its first India office in New Delhi last August and plans to open offices in Mumbai and Bengaluru.
- The company has recently expanded its India team with hires in policy, strategy, and technical roles.
OpenAI has appointed Prabhjeet Singh, the former president of Uber India and South Asia, as its inaugural managing director for India. This strategic move underscores OpenAI's commitment to India, which the company views as its second-largest market globally after the United States. Singh is set to join OpenAI in September and will report to Kiran Mani, the managing director for Asia-Pacific.
In his new role, Singh will be tasked with expanding OpenAI's footprint in India, overseeing critical areas such as consumer growth, enterprise adoption of AI technologies, strategic partnerships, engagement with regulatory bodies, and overall operations. His appointment follows OpenAI's recent investments in the region, including the opening of its first India office in New Delhi last August and plans for new offices in Mumbai and Bengaluru.
OpenAI has been actively building its team and presence in India. The company has hired other key executives, including Pragya Misra for public policy and partnerships, and previously engaged Rishi Jaitly as a senior advisor to facilitate government relations on AI policy. These efforts are complemented by strategic partnerships with Indian entities across higher education, enterprise payments, AI-powered commerce, and web streaming, as well as participation in the country's expanding data center infrastructure.
The rapid adoption of ChatGPT in India has been a key indicator of the market's significance for OpenAI. The company has also secured partnerships with major Indian conglomerates like Reliance and Tata Group. Concurrently, OpenAI is bolstering its local workforce with numerous job openings for AI deployment engineers, developer experience engineers, and other technical roles.
India has become a crucial arena for U.S. AI companies due to its large developer base, extensive internet user population, and burgeoning demand for generative AI. OpenAI's competitor, Anthropic, has also established a presence in India, opening an office in Bengaluru and appointing Irina Ghose, former Microsoft India managing director, as its India head.