Google has appointed Nitin Gajria as Managing Director for Southeast Asia and South Asia Frontier Markets. In his new role, Gajria will oversee Google’s regional business strategy and work across markets to support digitalisation, partnerships and AI-led growth.
Gajria returns to Southeast Asia after spending the past three years leading Google’s publisher and creator monetisation business across the Asia Pacific region. He described the move as a “full-circle moment”, as his Google journey began in Southeast Asia 12.5 years ago.
Before taking up the new position, Gajria served as Managing Director, Partnerships, Asia Pacific at Google. In that role, he worked on the company’s publisher and creator partnerships and monetisation business across the region. Google’s own APAC material also identifies him as Managing Director, APAC Sellside Monetization.
Gajria has held several senior positions during his more than 12-year career at Google. He joined the company in 2014 as Head of Brand Solutions for India and Southeast Asia. He later served as Country Director for Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos before becoming Managing Director for Sub-Saharan Africa. He subsequently moved into the Asia Pacific partnerships and monetisation business.
His experience at Google has covered regional business leadership, partnerships, monetisation and market development across different geographies. Earlier in his career, Gajria worked at Mead Johnson Nutrition as Regional Marketing Director for Enfa A+ in Asia Pacific. He also spent more than 11 years with Procter & Gamble in a series of brand and business leadership positions across ASEAN, Australasia and India.
Gajria’s new mandate comes as Google expands its focus on digitalisation and artificial intelligence across Southeast Asia and South Asia’s frontier markets. According to Google, active users of the Gemini app in Southeast Asia have more than doubled over the past year, while Gajria said regional consumer AI interest is running three times higher than the global average.
Commenting on his new role, Gajria said, “After spending the past three years scaling our publisher and creator monetization business across APAC, this feels like a full-circle moment. My journey at Google started in Southeast Asia 12.5 years ago and I’m pumped to be back!”
He added, “It’s amazing to see how much the ecosystem has evolved since then. With regional consumer AI interest running three times higher than the global average, what excites me most isn’t just the technology – it’s what people in this region will do with it.”
In the new position, Gajria will work with Google’s employees, partners, developers and creators across the region as the company develops its business and technology presence across Southeast Asia and South Asia’s frontier markets. His responsibilities will include supporting regional growth, strengthening commercial partnerships and helping businesses adopt digital and AI technologies.
