OpenAI Appoints First APAC Managing Director as Region Hits 28% of Global AI Market

OpenAI has named Kiran Mani as its first Managing Director for Asia-Pacific, effective June 2026. Mani will be based in Singapore and report to Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon.

A Newly Created Role for a Priority Region

The position is newly created, reflecting OpenAI's decision to move from US-managed regional operations toward dedicated local leadership. Mani will oversee strategy, partnerships, enterprise adoption, government engagement, and developer ecosystem growth across India, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, and Australia.

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Mani joins from JioStar, the Reliance Industries and Disney joint venture, where he served as CEO of the digital and streaming division, serving hundreds of millions of customers. Before that, he was Managing Director for Android and Google Play in Asia-Pacific at Google. He also held roles at Microsoft and IBM across cloud and enterprise software.

"Kiran brings product depth and business leadership across APAC that will be essential as we scale to the next billion users," said Oliver Jay, Managing Director of OpenAI International.

Asia-Pacific Growth Drives Structural Change

Asia-Pacific accounts for 28.45% of the global AI chatbot market and has recorded four times year-over-year growth for OpenAI. South Korea ranks as OpenAI's second-largest paid subscriber market globally, behind only the United States. Singapore's per-capita ChatGPT usage places it among the top three markets worldwide, with approximately one in four residents using the platform.

OpenAI established its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore in late 2024, targeting 50 to 70 employees. Enterprise clients secured from that hub include Singapore Airlines, Grab, Sea, and the Singapore Tourism Board.

OpenAI has also expanded its affordable pricing across the region, piloting a US$5 per month ChatGPT Go plan in India and Indonesia before rolling it out to 16 additional Asian countries. Following the India launch, Southeast Asia weekly active users grew fourfold and paid subscriptions doubled.

India and Government Partnerships Central to Mani's Mandate

India is identified as one of OpenAI's largest user markets globally and a centerpiece of the new regional strategy. OpenAI has established a New Delhi office and is collaborating with India's US$1.2 billion IndiaAI Mission on local language model development. A planned 1GW data center in India is part of OpenAI's broader Stargate infrastructure program.

Government engagement is a formal part of Mani's responsibilities. Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon has already conducted partnership discussions across Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, and Singapore. OpenAI's government partnership program has drawn interest from more than 30 countries, with Asia-Pacific governments representing a significant share of that pipeline.

Competitive Landscape Intensifies Across the Region

OpenAI competes directly with Google, Microsoft, Meta, Anthropic, and xAI across Asia-Pacific. Regional partnerships with Kakao, Krafton, and SK Telecom in South Korea reflect a strategy of embedding into local digital platforms rather than operating as a standalone foreign service.

ChatGPT reached 800 million global weekly active users by DevDay 2025, according to OpenAI figures. The company completed a structural conversion to a Public Benefit Corporation in October 2025, removing prior return caps and opening pathways to additional capital formation to fund regional infrastructure investment.

Mani's appointment takes effect June 2026, with Singapore serving as his base of operations.