OpenAI has appointed Kiran Mani, former CEO of JioStar, as Managing Director for Asia-Pacific, marking a key leadership move as it expands in the region.
Mani will assume the role in June and will be based in Singapore, reporting to Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon. His exit from JioStar was communicated internally by Vice Chairman Uday Shankar.
The appointment underscores OpenAI’s growing focus on the Asia-Pacific region, a critical market for generative AI adoption given its large user base and rising enterprise demand. The company is currently competing with global players such as Anthropic and Google to scale its footprint beyond the US and Europe.
Mani brings over two decades of experience across technology and digital ecosystems. Before JioStar, he spent more than 13 years at Google, where he served as General Manager for Android and Google Play across Asia-Pacific and Japan. He has also held roles at Microsoft and IBM.
His appointment is expected to play a pivotal role in shaping OpenAI’s regional strategy, as the company looks to localise offerings, build partnerships and accelerate growth across Asia-Pacific.
