Facebook’s parent company Meta today announced the appointment of Sandhya Devanathan as Vice President of Meta India. Sandhya Devanathan will focus on aligning the business and revenue priorities of the organization to serve its partners and clients, while continuing to support the long-term growth of Meta’s business and its commitment to India. Meta Platforms has named Sandhya Devanathan as its India chief, days after Ajit Mohan left to join rival Snap Inc.
WhatsApp India chief Abhijit Bose and Meta Platforms India director of public policy Rajiv Aggarwal also resigned earlier this week. Sandhya Devanathan will move into her new role on January 1 next year and will report to Dan Neary, Vice President of Meta APAC and will be part of the APAC leadership team. She will move back to India to lead the India organization and strategy. “In his role, Devanathan will lead the company’s India charter and strengthen strategic relationships with leading brands, creators, advertisers and partners in the country to drive Meta’s revenue growth across key channels in India,” the company said in a statement.
Commenting on the appointment, Marne Levine, Chief Commercial Officer, Meta said, “India is at the forefront of digital adoption and Meta has launched a number of our industry-leading products such as reels and business reports first in India. We are proud to have recently launched JioMart on WhatsApp, our first one-stop shopping experience in India. I am delighted to welcome Sandhya as our new leader for India. Sandhya has a proven track record of scaling businesses, building exceptional and inclusive teams, driving product innovation and building strong partnerships. We are excited to have her leadership lead Meta’s continued growth in India.”
Devanathan’s appointment comes as Facebook faces regulatory challenges in India with the government tightening laws governing Big Tech companies. The company has faced criticism for years for doing little to curb the spread of fake news and hate speech in India. Devanathan has been with Meta since 2016 and will move into his new role in January.
Devanathan is a global business leader with 22 years of experience and an international career in banking, payments and technology. She joined Meta in 2016 and helped build the Singapore and Vietnam businesses and teams, as well as Meta’s e-commerce initiatives in Southeast Asia. In 2020, she moved to lead Gaming for APAC, one of the largest verticals for Meta worldwide. She also brings a passion for developing women leaders in business and is the Executive Sponsor of Women@APAC at Meta, as well as the Global Lead for Play Forward, Meta’s global initiative to improve diversity representation in the gaming industry. He also serves on the global board of Pepper Financial Services.
