OpenAI appoints former Meta exec Sheeladitya Mohanty as India Marketing Lead
The appointment comes as the Sam Altman-led firm prepares to open its first office in Delhi later this year, part of its effort to deepen engagement with local businesses, developers, and academic institutions.
ChatGPT maker has appointed former Meta executive Sheeladitya Mohanty as its marketing lead for India, as the US-based artificial intelligence company expands its presence in one of its fastest-growing markets.
“Excited to join OpenAI as the Marketing Lead for India and contribute to the mission of building AGI for the benefit of humanity,” said Mohanty in a post on LinkedIn.
The appointment comes as the Sam Altman-led firm prepares to open its first office in Delhi later this year, part of its effort to deepen engagement with local businesses, developers, and academic institutions.
Mohanty previously spent nearly a decade at Meta, where he served as marketing lead for Meta AI and Facebook in the Asia-Pacific region. He has also held roles at Microsoft and Nokia India.
India is now ChatGPT’s second-largest market after the United States, with weekly active users rising more than fourfold in the past year.
The company further noted that India also ranks among the top five developer markets globally and has the world’s largest student population on ChatGPT.
The plan to launch an India office follows a series of India-focused initiatives by OpenAI, including ChatGPT Go, a Rs 399-a-month subscription with UPI payments; OpenAI Academy, a national AI literacy programme with the Ministry of Electronics and IT; and enhanced Indic language support in the company’s latest GPT-5 model.
OpenAI also plans to host its first Education Summit in India this month and a Developer Day later this year, aimed at engaging students, startups, and enterprises.
The company said it's actively hiring for roles in India, and will soon announce more details on its expansion plans in the country in the coming months.


