Kiran Mani, Former JioStar CEO, Joins OpenAI to Lead Asia-Pacific Expansion from Singapore

Meet ChatGPT's new Asia-Pacific boss Kiran Mani: Ex-Google employee who has trekked to Mount Everest base camp twice and loves bikes

OpenAI has appointed Kiran Mani, currently CEO of JioStar and a former Google executive, as its managing director for Asia-Pacific. He will join in June and be based in Singapore, leading the company's expansion in a region seen as critical for AI growth. With experience across Google, Microsoft, and IBM, Mani brings a strong background in technology and digital platforms. As artificial intelligence companies push harder into global markets, Asia-Pacific is fast becoming a key focus area. With rising internet usage, large populations, and growing interest in AI tools, companies are now putting senior leadership in place to guide expansion. In that backdrop, OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has made a significant leadership move by appointing Kiran Mani as managing director for Asia-Pacific, a newly created role that underlines its plans for the region. According to Bloomberg, Mani, currently the chief executive officer of JioStar, is expected to join OpenAI in June. He will relocate to Singapore and report to Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon. An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed the development, while Mani could not be reached for comment. The appointment comes as OpenAI competes with players like Anthropic and Google to expand globally. Asia-Pacific, especially countries like India, is being seen as a major growth market given its scale and increasing digital adoption. OpenAI has already begun building its presence in India. In 2024, it hired its first employee in the country focused on government relations and has been gradually adding to its team. Earlier this year, it also announced a partnership with the Tata Group to develop artificial intelligence technologies, including data centre infrastructure. Before this move, Mani was leading JioStar, a joint venture between Reliance Industries and The Walt Disney Company. As CEO, he oversaw platforms like JioHotstar and Cricinfo, managing consumer experience, content strategy, and revenue growth. As per his LinkedIn profile, he was also the founding CEO of JioHotstar and played a role in merging Viacom18 with Star India to form one of the country's largest media and entertainment platforms. The streaming service has built a user base of over 300 million, driven by cricket content as well as entertainment programming. Mani brings with him a long career in technology and digital businesses. According to his LinkedIn profile, he spent over 13 years at Google, where he held multiple leadership roles across regions. He served as general manager for Android and Google Play across Asia-Pacific and Japan, focusing on improving user experience and developer growth. He also worked in senior roles in the United States, overseeing large advertising businesses and global retail partnerships. Before Google, he held positions at Microsoft and IBM, handling marketing, strategy, and operations. His profile also shows he co-founded an ad-tech startup, Fosbury Flop, which was later acquired. Beyond corporate roles, Mani is also involved in academic and industry bodies. As per his LinkedIn profile, he serves on the board of the Department of Management Studies at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. He is also associated with the Internet and Mobile Association of India and the Advertising Standards Council of India in board-level roles. He has also been active as an angel investor and advisor to startups across sectors such as technology, media, and digital platforms. The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad website reveals a more personal side of Mani. Away from the boardroom, Mani has lived in nine cities across three continents and speaks five languages. He is also known to be passionate about motorbikes and has completed the Everest Base Camp trek twice, something not many corporate leaders can claim. He also spends time practising and teaching mindfulness and meditation, and has spoken about the importance of balancing compassion, enjoyment, and serious business in creating long-term value.

Kiran Mani exits JioStar to lead OpenAI APAC

Kiran Mani, the founding chief executive of JioHotstar, has exited JioStar to join OpenAI as managing director for Asia Pacific. This newly created role signals the company's sharpening focus on the region. Based on industry reports, Mani will relocate from Mumbai to Singapore and assume the position in June, reporting to the tech company's chief strategy officer, Jason Kwon. Mani is expected to remain with JioStar until early June to support the transition. His departure marks a senior leadership shift at a time when both the media and AI sectors are recalibrating around scale, distribution and monetisation. JioStar, a joint venture between Reliance Industries and The Walt Disney Company, operates the JioHotstar platform, which has built a subscriber base of more than 300 million. The service's growth has been underpinned by India's affinity for cricket, entertainment programming and regional content, which are categories that continue to anchor streaming demand in the country. Mani's tenure at JioStar was defined by structural consolidation. He architected the merger of Viacom18 with Star India, creating one of the country's largest media and entertainment platforms. The integration required aligning content libraries, advertising operations and distribution strategies in a fragmented and highly competitive market. Mani's hire reflects OpenAI's increasing reliance on Asia Pacific as a growth engine. India is now its second-largest global market, with more than 100 million weekly ChatGPT users, while Japan has emerged as a leading enterprise adoption hub outside the United States. The company has also expanded its regional footprint through offices, partnerships and government engagement. Mani brings a cross-functional background that spans technology, media and advertising. He spent more than 13 years at Google, where he led the Android and Google Play business across Asia Pacific and Japan. Prior to that, he oversaw more than $5 billion in advertising revenue as managing director of US retail, while also serving as head of Google's global retail practice. Earlier roles at Microsoft, IBM and Ogilvy & Mather round out a career that has moved between product ecosystems, enterprise sales and brand strategy. That mix is likely to be tested in his new role. OpenAI is no longer operating solely as a research-led organisation. It is pushing deeper into enterprise adoption, with a focus on embedding its tools across workflows, industries and geographies. His move to OpenAI places him at the centre of a different consolidation; this time in AI, where platforms are racing to convert user growth into sustainable enterprise revenue. Mani's The company is also scaling its operations aggressively. According to a report by the Financial Times, OpenAI plans to nearly double its workforce to 8,000 from 4,500 by the end of 2026, with hiring concentrated across product development, engineering, research and sales. It is also expanding recruitment in "technical ambassadorship" roles to help businesses deploy and optimise its tools. This expansion comes amid intensifying competition. Rivals such as Anthropic and Google are accelerating their own regional strategies, particularly in markets like India, where digital adoption continues to rise. India is already Claude's second-largest consumer market globally, and Anthropic has established hubs in Tokyo and Bengaluru, drawing leadership talent from global technology firms. The broader market dynamics are also shifting. Both OpenAI and Anthropic are operating at a loss, investing heavily in model training and infrastructure while seeking to build revenue streams. The pressure to improve unit economics and demonstrate a path to profitability is increasing, particularly as both companies position themselves for potential public listings. OpenAI's latest funding round underscores the scale of that ambition. The company was reportedly valued at $840 billion, with backing from major technology players and investors including Masayoshi Son's SoftBank. The capital is being deployed to expand capabilities, strengthen infrastructure and accelerate global adoption. In Asia Pacific, this strategy is taking a more defined shape. OpenAI has partnered with Tata Group to build artificial intelligence and data centre capacity, while also strengthening its government relations efforts in India. The company has consolidated products such as ChatGPT, Codex and Atlas into a unified desktop interface, signalling a push towards integrated enterprise solutions. Mani's role will sit at the intersection of these priorities, focusing on growth, localisation and monetisation. His experience in scaling platforms across diverse markets is likely to be central as OpenAI navigates regulatory complexity, enterprise adoption cycles and competitive pressure in the region. As AI platforms deepen their enterprise offerings, the line between media, commerce and creative production continues to blur. Tools that were once experimental are increasingly becoming embedded within campaign workflows, customer engagement strategies and performance measurement systems. OpenAI's expansion into Asia Pacific, backed by leadership hires such as Mani, suggests a shift from access to application, which is less centered about how many users these platforms can attract, and more about how effectively they can convert usage into sustained business outcomes. That transition will define the next phase of competition, not just among AI companies, but across the broader digital economy.