OpenAI is strengthening its presence in Asia with a key leadership hire. The company is bringing in a senior executive from India’s fast-growing digital entertainment space to lead its regional expansion.
According to reports, Kiran Mani, currently the CEO of JioStar, will soon take on a major role at OpenAI. His appointment reflects how seriously the company is looking at Asia-Pacific as its next big growth frontier.
Mani is expected to join in June as Managing Director for the Asia-Pacific region. He will be based in Singapore and report to Jason Kwon.
At JioStar, a joint venture between Reliance Industries and Walt Disney, Mani helped scale the JioHotstar platform into one of the largest streaming services in the region. The platform has crossed 300 million users, largely driven by India’s strong demand for cricket and digital entertainment.
His move comes at a time when OpenAI is actively expanding in Asia. The region’s large population and rapidly increasing internet adoption make it a high-potential market. India, in particular, has become a key focus, with more than 100 million weekly users of ChatGPT across students, developers, and businesses.
OpenAI already has operations in New Delhi and is planning to open new offices in Mumbai and Bengaluru, signaling deeper investment in the country.
Meanwhile, competition in the AI space is intensifying. OpenAI is going head-to-head with players like Anthropic and Google Gemini as companies race to grow their user base and strengthen their AI offerings.
Mani’s appointment also highlights a broader shift across the AI industry. Companies are increasingly hiring leaders with strong experience in building large-scale digital platforms. With over two decades of work across mobile, cloud, and media, Mani is expected to play a key role in shaping OpenAI’s growth strategy across Asia-Pacific.
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