Meta appoints Sandhya Devanathan as India head
Public Lokpal
November 17, 2022
Meta appoints Sandhya Devanathan as India head
New Delhi : Facebook parent Meta has on November 17 announced the appointment of Sandhya Devanathan as the Vice President of Meta India, a fortnight after the departure of Meta India's country head Ajit Mohan who joined rival Snap to head its Asia Pacific business.
Devanathan, who is leading the company's gaming vertical for the Asia Pacific (APAC) market, will transition to her new role on January 1, 2023 and move back to India to lead its strategy. She will be a part of the APAC leadership team and report to Dan Neary, Vice President, Meta APAC, the company said.
It's worth noting that Devanathan's predecessor Mohan reported directly to Meta's Menlo Park headquarters, whereas other predecessors reported to the social networking firm's Asia Pacific office.
She will move back to India to lead the India organization and strategy, the company said. Manish Chopra, Director and Head of Partnerships for Facebook India (Meta), is currently leading the company on an interim basis.
In this role, Devanathan will spearhead the company's India charter and focus on bringing the organization’s business and revenue priorities together to serve its partners and clients, thereby supporting the long-term growth of Meta’s business and commitment to India, the company said in a statement.
She will also be responsible for strengthening the strategic relationships with the country's leading brands, creators, advertisers, and partners to drive Meta's revenue growth in key channels in the country.
India is the largest market for Meta's family of apps that include - Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp - with a combined userbase of over a billion monthly users.
Devanathan joined Meta in 2016 and helped build out the social networking giant's Singapore and Vietnam businesses and teams as well as its e-commerce initiatives in Southeast Asia. In 2020, she moved to lead the company's APAC gaming business, which is one of its largest verticals across the world.
She is also the Executive Sponsor for Women@APAC initiative at Meta as well as the global lead for Play Forward, a global Meta initiative to improve diversity representation in the gaming industry, the company said in a statement.
Prior to Meta, Devanathan has had stints at Standard Chartered Bank and Citi. She has over 22 years of experience across areas such as banking, payments and technology. She also serves on the global board of Pepper Financial Services, a diversified financial services firm.
Devanathan's appointment comes amid several top exits at Meta India. Besides Mohan, WhatsApp India head Abhijit Bose and Meta India's director of public policy Rajiv Aggarwal are leaving the company.
Shivnath Thukral, who is currently the director of public policy at WhatsApp India, has been appointed as the director of public policy for Meta India, which includes Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
It also comes against the backdrop of Facebook's parent company laying off 11,000 people worldwide earlier this month, marking its first major round of job cuts in the company's 18-year history.