Meta expands India head Sandhya Devanathan's role to include Southeast Asia

Sandhya Devanathan joined the social networking giant as Vice President of Meta India in November 2022.

Meta India head Sandhya Devanathan is taking on additional responsibilities to lead the social networking giant's Southeast Asia business. The move comes as Meta's Asia -Pacific chief Dan Neary prepares to leave in the coming months after a 12-year stint.

Meta has also elevated Benjamin Joe as the regional vice president for the Asia-Pacific region from July. Joe, a 14-year veteran at the firm, leads Meta's business in Southeast Asia. Earlier, he served as country director for the Korea market for five years after serving in a business development role on the growth team in the United States. He has had stints at McKinsey and IBM as well.

"Both Ben and Sandhya are exceptional leaders with strong track records. I’m confident that they will continue to drive growth and innovation for our valued partners and take our business to new heights," Neary said in a LinkedIn post on May 15.

Devanathan joined the social networking giant as vice president of Meta India in November 2022, a fortnight after the departure of India country head Ajit Mohan.

She currently oversees the company's expansion in India, its largest market by users and a crucial region for its future growth, particularly with its artificial intelligence efforts.

Earlier, she was leading Meta's gaming vertical in the Asia Pacific region, one of its largest verticals globally.

Devanathan joined Meta in 2016 and has played a key role in building the firm's businesses and teams in Singapore and Vietnam, as well as its Southeast Asian e-commerce initiatives.

She has also worked with Standard Chartered Bank and Citi. Devanathan, who has more than 22 years of experience in banking, payments, and technology, also serves on the board of Pepper Financial Services, a diversified financial services firm.

With a combined user base of over a billion monthly users, India is the largest market for Meta's family of apps, which includes Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

"I am thankful to Dan Neary for his leadership in steering Asia Pacific business and confident that going ahead, we will continue to drive growth and innovation for our valued partners along with Ben. What remains a constant is our unwavering focus on serving you – our partners – and continuing to invest in products to help drive growth" Devanathan said.