Social networking giant Meta on Thursday announced Sandhya Devanathan has been appointed as the Vice President of India. Devanathan will transition to her new role on January 1, 2023 and will report to Dan Neary, Vice President, Meta APAC and will be a part of the APAC leadership team. She will move back to India to take on the role and lead the India strategy.
Devanathan will focus on bringing the organisation’s business and revenue priorities together to serve its partners and clients while continuing to support the long-term growth of its business and commitment to the country. As part of her role, Devanathan will spearhead the company’s India charter and strengthen 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 at the forefront of digital adoption and Meta has launched many of our top products, such as Reels and Business Messaging, in India first. We are proud to have recently launched JioMart on WhatsApp, which is our first end-to-end shopping experience in India. I’m pleased 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 thrilled to have her lead Meta’s continued growth in India," Marne Levine, Chief Business Officer, Meta told ABP Live in a statement.
Devanathan comes with 22 years of experience and has an international career in banking, payments and technology.
She joined Meta in 2016 and helped build out the company's 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 which is one of the largest verticals for Meta globally.
She also has a passion for developing women leaders in business and is the Executive Sponsor for Women@APAC at Meta as well as the global lead for Play Forward, a global Meta initiative to improve diversity representation in the gaming industry. She also serves on the global board of Pepper Financial Services.
Recent high-profile exits at Meta India
Earlier this week, WhatsApp India Head Abhijit Bose and Director of Public Policy Meta India, Rajiv Aggarwal resigned from their positions at the social networking giant, in a fresh round of top-level exits from the company. Shivnath Thukral has been assigned the role of Public Policy Head At Facebook.
This also comes within a week of Facebook parent Meta laying off more than 11,000 employees, which is 13 per cent of its total workforce, after a steep slide in digital ad revenue and profit. According to Wall Street Journal, in his latest meeting with senior executives, Zuckerberg is said to have confirmed "broad cuts" across the company. Employees who lose their jobs would be provided at least four months of salary as a severance.