OpenAI has appointed Prabhjeet Singh as its Managing Director for India, placing one of the country’s most experienced technology executives at the helm of its operations in what has become one of the company’s fastest-growing markets.
Singh will join OpenAI in September after spending nearly 11 years at Uber, where he played a central role in building the ride-hailing company’s business across India and South Asia. He will report to Kiran Mani, OpenAI’s Managing Director for Asia Pacific, and will oversee the company’s India strategy across consumer growth, enterprise adoption, strategic partnerships, regulatory engagement and business operations.
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From engineering to consulting
An engineer by training, Singh graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur before earning an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad.
He began his career at McKinsey & Company, where he spent several years advising businesses on growth strategy, operations and digital transformation, eventually becoming an Associate Partner.
Building Uber in India
Singh joined Uber in August 2015, when the ride-hailing company was rapidly expanding across India.
Initially leading operations and city expansion, he helped scale Uber’s presence beyond the country’s largest metropolitan markets before taking over as President of India and South Asia in July 2020.
Over the next several years, he oversaw Uber’s mobility business across India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, steering the company through one of the most challenging periods in its history, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the recovery that followed.
Under his leadership, Uber evolved beyond four-wheel taxis to build businesses around Uber Auto, Uber Moto and Uber Shuttle, while expanding into electric mobility and strengthening partnerships with India’s digital public infrastructure, including the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).
He also played a key role in adapting Uber’s global operating model to India’s highly competitive mobility market, balancing affordability, localisation and product innovation.
ALso read: OpenAI’s APAC chief Kiran Mani begins role, says AI must be ‘abundant, affordable and helpful’
Why OpenAI hired him
Singh’s appointment comes as OpenAI accelerates its expansion in India, where ChatGPT has emerged as one of the country’s fastest-growing consumer AI products.
As Managing Director, he will lead OpenAI’s efforts across consumer products, enterprise adoption, strategic partnerships and government engagement, while helping businesses, startups and institutions integrate artificial intelligence into their operations.
The role also places him at the centre of OpenAI’s efforts to deepen relationships with India’s developer ecosystem, enterprises and policymakers as competition among AI companies intensifies.
A strategic appointment
Singh’s move reflects a broader trend of global technology companies appointing seasoned India operators to lead businesses that have become increasingly central to their worldwide growth strategies.
For OpenAI, India represents more than a large user base. It is a strategic market for enterprise AI adoption, developer innovation and public-sector partnerships.
For Singh, the appointment marks a shift from mobility to artificial intelligence, positioning him to lead OpenAI’s expansion in a market that is expected to play a pivotal role in the next phase of global AI adoption.
Also read: Uber India president Prabhjeet Singh steps down after nearly 11 years
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