OpenAI has appointed Kiran Mani as Managing Director for Asia Pacific and Japan, strengthening the company’s leadership presence across one of the world’s fastest-growing technology and artificial intelligence markets.
In his new role, Mani will oversee OpenAI’s business operations, regional growth initiatives, strategic partnerships, and ecosystem development across Asia Pacific and Japan as the company continues expanding the adoption of generative AI technologies across enterprises, developers, governments, and consumers.
Mani announced the move through a LinkedIn post, where he described joining OpenAI as “the most purposeful mission I have ever signed up for.”
“AI has the potential to transform how people live, learn, create and solve problems,” Mani said in the post. He also highlighted OpenAI’s broader mission of making artificial intelligence more accessible, stating that a shared conviction across his conversations at the company was that “as AI becomes more capable, it must also become more abundant, affordable and helpful for everyone to use.”
The appointment reflects OpenAI’s growing focus on the Asia-Pacific region, where governments, enterprises, startups, and developers are accelerating investments in AI infrastructure, enterprise adoption, digital transformation, and localized AI ecosystems.
Mani brings extensive leadership experience across technology, digital platforms, media, enterprise growth, and international business operations. Prior to joining OpenAI, he served as Chief Executive Officer of JioStar, where he led the merger of Viacom18 and Star India to create one of India’s largest media and entertainment platforms. In that role, he oversaw digital businesses including JioHotstar and Cricinfo, focusing on platform growth, digital engagement, and business expansion.
Before JioStar, Mani spent more than 13 years at Google in senior leadership positions across Asia and the United States. His roles included General Manager for Android and Google Play across Asia Pacific and Japan, where he worked on ecosystem expansion, developer partnerships, and platform adoption throughout the region.
He also held leadership responsibilities across Google’s retail and global advertising businesses, contributing to the growth of large-scale international operations and strategic partnerships.
Earlier in his career, Mani worked with IBM and Ogilvy, building experience across technology, consulting, digital transformation, and enterprise strategy.
Industry observers view Mani’s appointment as part of broader efforts by global AI companies to strengthen regional leadership and deepen engagement with businesses, developers, and policymakers across Asia Pacific as competition intensifies in the artificial intelligence sector. The move comes at a time when AI adoption is accelerating rapidly across the region, with enterprises increasingly investing in generative AI, automation, cloud infrastructure, and AI-powered customer and developer solutions.
OpenAI is the artificial intelligence company behind ChatGPT and several widely used generative AI models. The company has rapidly expanded its global presence amid growing demand for AI-driven solutions across industries including software development, education, customer experience, healthcare, financial services, and enterprise productivity.
