He’ll tackle the newly created position in June, reporting to OpenAI’s Chief Technique Officer Jason Kwon, and can relocate from India to Singapore, they added.
Additionally Learn: AI is reshaping how audiences uncover and have interaction with content material: Kiran Mani
Kiran Mani joins OpenAI
At OpenAI, Mani will lead regional technique and operations throughout APAC, a market that has emerged as a key progress engine for the corporate. His appointment comes amid speedy adoption of AI instruments throughout Asia Pacific, with India now rating as OpenAI’s second-largest market globally by weekly customers, and nations reminiscent of Japan and Indonesia additionally that includes amongst its high markets.
Enterprise utilization can also be accelerating, with Japan rising as OpenAI’s largest market outdoors the US for ChatGPT enterprise customers, whereas India is among the many main markets for Codex adoption.
Kiran Mani journey at JioStar
Mani exits JioStar after enjoying a pivotal position in shaping its digital ambitions. As CEO – Digital, he led the corporate’s platforms spanning sports activities and leisure and was instrumental within the launch and transformation of JioHotstar into a significant vacation spot for premium content material, dwell sports activities, and digital-first experiences throughout gadgets.
Underneath his management, JioStar targeted on integrating content material, know-how, and monetisation to scale its choices throughout India’s quickly increasing digital ecosystem.
He joined Reliance Industries-controlled Viacom18 in 2023 as CEO for Digital Ventures, the place he led efforts to remodel JioCinema into India’s premier vacation spot for curated content material throughout cell and related TV platforms.
In 2024, Viacom18 merged with Disney-owned Star India to kind JioStar. He additionally performed a pivotal position within the integration of Disney+ Hotstar and JioCinema right into a single streaming platform, JioHotstar, launched in February 2025.
With over 25 years of worldwide management expertise, Mani brings deep experience in constructing and scaling digital and know-how companies. Previous to JioStar, he held senior management roles at Google, together with Managing Director for Android and Google Play in APAC, the place he oversaw platform progress throughout various markets.
His earlier profession contains stints at Microsoft and IBM, together with entrepreneurial expertise in founding and scaling a know-how startup.
His transfer to OpenAI aligns with the corporate’s broader push to increase its worldwide footprint. Since opening its Tokyo workplace in April 2024, OpenAI has established a rising presence throughout the area, together with workplaces in Singapore, Australia, Korea, and India. The corporate is more and more partnering with enterprises and organisations throughout APAC to deploy AI instruments at scale and combine superior fashions into services and products.
