OpenAI makes multiple hires in India
With its first New Delhi office set to open later this year to bring AI tools closer to Indian users, Storyboard18 explores OpenAI’s new key appointments in the region—and its notable departures.
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Since artificial intelligence—commonly referred to as AI—started gaining traction across industries, its tools and offerings have become integral to our daily lives. To make AI tools more accessible in India, OpenAI will open an office in New Delhi later this year.
Following this decision, the company appointed Sheeladitya Mohanty as Marketing Lead for India. Mohanty joins from Meta, where he led marketing for Meta AI and the Facebook app in the APAC region.
OpenAI has also posted listings for key roles on its careers page: Account Director (Digital Natives), Account Director (Large Enterprise), and Account Director (Strategics). Based in New Delhi, these positions focus on sales leadership and customer engagement for the company’s products and services.
According to The Economic Times, the ‘Digital Natives’ role involves managing portfolios in tech-forward client segments; ‘Large Enterprise’ oversees relationships with major business clients; and ‘Strategics’ handles strategic accounts with complex, large-scale AI deployments.
India is ChatGPT’s second‑largest market. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared that ChatGPT usage in India grew fourfold in 2024, and the company looks forward to significantly investing further in the region.
OpenAI’s India expansion didn’t begin with Mohanty. In April 2024, Pragya Misra joined as the Public Policy and Partnerships lead, becoming the first Indian hire at the company and paving the way for OpenAI’s engagement with Indian developers, civil society, academia, and policymakers.
In corporate leadership changes globally, Fidji Simo, formerly CEO of Instacart, began her role as CEO of Applications at OpenAI in mid‑August 2025. Her appointment marks an operational shift as Sam Altman focuses more on compute infrastructure and research platforms.
Shortly thereafter, Julia Villagra, OpenAI’s Chief People Officer, announced she would step down on August 22, 2025, less than a year after her promotion. She said she wants to pursue her passion for “using art, music, and storytelling to help people understand the societal transition to AGI.” During the interim, Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon will oversee HR functions until Simo leads the search for a replacement.
Her exit comes at a critical moment as OpenAI faces intense competition for AI talent—Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly dangled nine-figure signing bonuses to lure researchers—and the company explores a share sale that could raise its valuation from $300 billion to $500 billion.
