OpenAI makes a big India bet, hires former Uber India chief to lead operations
OpenAI has named former Uber India President Prabhjeet Singh as its first India Managing Director as the company expands its business, partnerships and AI presence across the country.
Published By: Shubham Arora | Published: Jun 27, 2026, 05:11 PM (IST)
OpenAI is strengthening its presence in India with a new leadership appointment. The company has named former Uber India and South Asia President Prabhjeet Singh as its first Managing Director for India, underlining the importance it now places on one of its fastest-growing markets.
Singh is expected to join OpenAI in September and will report to Kiran Mani, Managing Director for Asia Pacific. His appointment comes as the company continues to expand its footprint in India, where interest in generative AI has grown rapidly over the past couple of years.
OpenAI has said that India is now its second-largest market after the US.
What will Prabhjeet Singh do?
As the Managing Director for India, Singh will be responsible for leading OpenAI's business in the country. His responsibilities will include growing ChatGPT's user base, helping more businesses adopt the company's AI tools, building partnerships, working with regulators, and managing day-to-day operations.
He is also expected to work closely with companies, educational institutions, developers and government organisations to support the wider adoption of artificial intelligence across different sectors.
The appointment follows a series of investments that OpenAI has made in India over the last year. OpenAI opened its first office in New Delhi last year and has already confirmed that Mumbai and Bengaluru will be the next cities where it plans to set up offices.
OpenAI's focus on India continues to grow
Over the past few months, OpenAI has announced partnerships across several industries in India. These include collaborations in higher education, enterprise payments, AI-powered commerce and web streaming. The company has also become part of India's growing data centre ecosystem as demand for AI infrastructure continues to increase.
OpenAI has repeatedly highlighted the rapid growth of ChatGPT users in India, calling it one of the reasons behind its increased investment in the country. Indian companies, including Reliance and Tata Group, are also among OpenAI's early partners.
Alongside these partnerships, the company has been expanding its local workforce. It is currently hiring for multiple roles, including AI deployment engineers, developer experience engineers, developer marketing, partner management and solutions engineering.
Singh brings years of experience
Before joining OpenAI, Singh spent nearly 11 years at Uber, where he led the company's business across India and South Asia. During his tenure, Uber expanded beyond its core cab services by introducing products such as Auto, Moto and Shuttle to better suit the Indian market.
He also worked on the company's electric mobility initiatives and partnerships, besides supporting Uber's integration with India's digital public infrastructure, including the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).
Before Uber, Singh worked at McKinsey & Company as an Associate Partner and earlier at Lehman Brothers. He studied engineering at IIT Kharagpur before completing his management education at IIM Ahmedabad.
AI companies are paying more attention to India
India has become one of the biggest growth markets for AI companies, thanks to its large developer community, expanding internet user base and rising interest in generative AI tools.
OpenAI is not the only company increasing its presence here. Rival AI company Anthropic opened its India office in Bengaluru in late 2025 and later appointed former Microsoft India Managing Director Irina Ghose to lead its India business.
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