OpenAI appoints former Uber India chief Prabhjeet Singh as its first India managing director

OpenAI has appointed Prabhjeet Singh, the former president of Uber India and South Asia, as its first managing director for India — signaling a major escalation of its commitment to the country. Singh, who announced his departure from Uber on Friday, will join the company in September and report to Kiran Mani, OpenAI’s managing director for Asia-Pacific. The company confirmed the appointment to Bitcoin World.

A strategic hire for a priority market

Singh will oversee OpenAI’s performance in India across consumer growth, enterprise adoption, partnerships, regulatory engagement, and operations. His appointment comes as the company deepens its presence in what it has repeatedly described as its largest market outside the United States.

India has become a critical battleground for U.S. AI companies. The country’s vast developer ecosystem, over a billion internet users, and surging demand for generative AI tools have made it a top priority for firms like OpenAI and its rival Anthropic. Anthropic opened its Bengaluru office in late 2025 and earlier this year named former Microsoft India managing director Irina Ghose as its India head.

Building on existing investments

OpenAI has been steadily expanding its footprint in India. The company opened its first office in New Delhi in August 2024 and announced plans this year to establish additional offices in Mumbai and Bengaluru. In 2024, it hired former Truecaller and Meta executive Pragya Misra to lead public policy and partnerships — a role that later expanded to head of strategy and global affairs. It also brought on former Twitter India head Rishi Jaitly as a senior adviser to help shape its engagement with the Indian government on AI policy.

Over the past several months, OpenAI has struck partnerships across higher education, enterprise payments, AI-powered commerce, and web streaming. It has also become part of India’s growing data center build-out. Indian conglomerates Reliance and Tata Group are among its early enterprise partners in the market.

What this means for the Indian AI landscape

The appointment of a senior executive like Singh — who led Uber’s operations across one of its most complex markets — underscores OpenAI’s ambition to move beyond consumer adoption and build deep institutional relationships in India. Singh’s experience in navigating regulatory frameworks, scaling operations, and managing public-private partnerships will be critical as OpenAI faces increasing scrutiny over data privacy, content moderation, and AI safety in the country.

India’s generative AI market is expected to grow rapidly, driven by enterprise adoption and a young, tech-savvy population. OpenAI has already ramped up hiring in India, with open roles including AI deployment engineers, developer experience engineers, a developer marketing lead, a partner director, and solutions engineers.

Conclusion

Prabhjeet Singh’s appointment marks a new chapter in OpenAI’s India strategy. As the company scales its operations, builds local partnerships, and navigates a complex regulatory environment, its ability to execute in India will be closely watched by the global AI industry. For now, the message is clear: India is no longer just a market to enter — it is one to lead from.

FAQs

Q1: Who is Prabhjeet Singh?
Prabhjeet Singh is the former president of Uber India and South Asia, where he led the company’s operations across one of its largest markets. He has been appointed as OpenAI’s first managing director for India.

Q2: When will Singh join OpenAI?
Singh is expected to join OpenAI in September 2025. He will report to Kiran Mani, OpenAI’s managing director for Asia-Pacific.

Q3: Why is India important for OpenAI?
India is OpenAI’s largest market outside the U.S., driven by a massive developer base, over a billion internet users, and rapidly growing demand for generative AI tools. The company has been expanding its offices, partnerships, and hiring in the country.