Meta Appoints Arun Srinivas As India Head

Meta has appointed Arun Srinivas as the managing director and head for the company in India, days after its vice president and head of public policy in the country, Shivnath Thukral, stepped down.

In his new role, Srinivas will help in Meta’s business, innovation and revenue growth, as per Meta’s statement. 

“As part of his new and expanded role, Srinivas will focus on bringing the organization’s business, innovation, and revenue priorities together to serve partners and clients, while continuing to support the long-term growth of Meta’s business and commitment to India,” the statement read. 

Srinivas will lead the India charter and strengthen the relationships with brands, advertisers, developers and partners in the country for market growth. 

The development is followed by the announcement of Meta’s vice president for India, Sandhya Devanathan taking on additional responsibilities to lead the company’s Southeast Asia operations.

Srinivas will transition to his new role from July onwards and will continue to report to Devanathan. 

“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,” said Devanathan. 

With more than 25 years of experience across consumer goods and tech and other domains, Srinivas will be elevated from his current role of director and head of Ads Business of Meta India. 

He joined Meta nearly five years ago as the director and head of its global business group. 

Prior to that, he was the chief operating officer (COO) and global chief marketing officer (CMO) at Ola Mobility. 

Earlier, he was associated with Unilever for more than 15 years, leaving it as category vice president, foods South Asia in 2017. Besides, he also worked at Reebok across different roles.

Last month, Devanathan’s role expanded to lead Meta’s Southeast Asia operations. 

“…I am excited also to announce that I will take on additional responsibilities to lead our business in both India and Southeast Asia,” said Devanathan in a LinkedIn post.

Besides, the big tech’s Asia-Pacific chief Dan Neary also took to LinkedIn to announce his plans to leave in the coming months after a 12-year stint. Benjamin Joe will be succeeding Neary.

Earlier this year, it was reported that Meta and AI giant OpenAI are looking to strike partnership with Indian conglomerate Reliance on new AI businesses. 

Meta is also looking to strengthen its presence in India by setting up its new office in Bengaluru and is actively hiring for engineering and product roles for artificial intelligence in the city as reported earlier.