Meta has appointed its current director and head of ads and business in India Arun Srinivas as its new managing director and head of india operations, effective July 1.
The move comes as vice president for India and Southeast Asia Sandhya Devanathan takes on an expanded leadership role overseeing both regions, Meta said.
Joining the tech firm in 2020 as director and head-global business group, Srinivas led Meta’s work with the country’s largest advertisers and agency partners focusing on strategic revenue priorities such as AI, Reels, and Messaging.
Prior to that, he gained nearly three decades of experience in sales and marketing leadership roles at companies such as Hindustan Unilever, Reebok, OLA and investment firm WestBridge Capital.
In his new role, Srinivas will be responsible for unifying Meta’s sales, innovation and revenue strategies in India and will continue to report to Devanathan.
He will be tasked with leading the company’s efforts to deepen strategic relationships with key brands, advertisers, developers and partners, with a focus on driving long-term growth in one of Meta’s key global markets.
Commenting on the new hire, Devanathan said: “Meta in India is leading the way in AI adoption, WhatsApp, and Reels, and Arun’s impressive track record of building high-performing teams, driving product innovation, and fostering strong partnerships makes him the ideal leader to drive Meta’s continued investment in the country. He will continue to work closely with me as we scale the business in India.”
Earlier this month, Meta acquired a 49 per cent stake in Scale AI for $14.3 billion in a deal that values the start-up at $29 billion.
As part of the deal, Scale’s chief executive Alexandr Wang will join Meta to lead its superintelligence activities.
In a statement, Scale AI said Wang will continue to serve on Scale’s board of directors and support the company’s ongoing work to unlock the power of AI and “keep human values at the forefront”.
The firm is reportedly putting together a new team focused on the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI).
According to Bloomberg, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg is personally recruiting about 50 experts, including a new head of AI research, to lead the “superintelligence” team.
