OpenAI Hires Uber India Chief to Lead India Operations

OpenAI has appointed Prabhjeet Singh, former president of Uber India and South Asia, as its inaugural managing director for India, effective September. The appointment underscores the artificial intelligence firm’s strategic expansion into India, which it now ranks as its second-largest global market following the United States. Singh will report to Kiran Mani, OpenAI’s managing director for Asia Pacific, and will oversee consumer growth, enterprise adoption, strategic partnerships, regulatory engagement, and regional operations. This leadership addition aligns with OpenAI’s accelerating infrastructure and talent acquisition across the country. The company opened its first New Delhi office last August and announced plans for additional locations in Mumbai and Bengaluru. To support commercial scaling, OpenAI has been recruiting AI deployment engineers, developer experience specialists, and solutions architects. The firm has also consolidated its market position through partnerships spanning higher education, enterprise payments, AI-driven commerce, and streaming services, while contributing to India’s expanding data center ecosystem. Domestic conglomerates Reliance and Tata Group have emerged as early corporate partners. OpenAI has systematically strengthened its regional executive team prior to Singh’s arrival. Pragya Misra, formerly of Truecaller and Meta, was hired to direct public policy and partnerships before being elevated to head of strategy and global affairs. Additionally, former Twitter India head Rishi Jaitly serves as a senior adviser focusing on government relations and artificial intelligence policy development. The recruitment activity reflects an intensifying competitive race among American artificial intelligence developers targeting India’s massive demographic and technical advantages. Supported by a developer ecosystem exceeding one billion internet users and rapidly accelerating demand for generative tools, the nation has become a critical growth frontier. Competitors are mirroring OpenAI’s expansion strategy; Anthropic recently established a Bengaluru office in late 2025 and appointed former Microsoft India managing director Irina Ghose to lead its regional operations. As technology firms continue to scale infrastructure and strategic alliances locally, Singh’s appointment signals OpenAI’s commitment to capturing sustained market share and navigating India’s evolving regulatory landscape.