{
  "id": 6744326,
  "title": "The AI talent war is coming for Big Tech’s Asia executives",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/11/the-ai-talent-war-is-coming-for-big-techs-asia-executives",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-09-11T10:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Rest of World Tech",
    "slug": "rest-of-world-tech",
    "url": "https://restofworld.org/2026/openai-anthropic-big-tech-executives-asia/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Silicon Valley's competition for artificial intelligence talent is expanding to Asia. Tech giants OpenAI and Anthropic are recruiting executives from U.S. companies like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon to work in India and Singapore. Meta's India and Southeast Asia vice president, Sandhya Devanathan, recently moved to OpenAI, joining a trend of U.S. AI firms hiring from American big tech in Asia. Experts estimate fewer than a thousand experienced executives exist across all major tech companies in India. OpenAI and Anthropic declined requests for comment on their hiring strategies. In the U.S., AI research labs typically compete for top researchers and engineers. However, in Asia, companies seek executives capable of translating AI into market adoption, focusing on partnerships, policy, and business development. Professionals with experience at companies like Microsoft, Google, or Uber in Asia are valuable for scaling Silicon Valley's products while navigating local environments. OpenAI and Anthropic are interested in individuals with experience similar to Pragya Mishra, OpenAI's first India hire, who previously worked at Truecaller and WhatsApp. Kiran Mani, OpenAI's Asia-Pacific director, came from JioStar, India's largest media and entertainment conglomerate, and had a 13-year career at Google. Devanathan's tenure at Meta included roles in consumer platforms, gaming, commerce, business messaging, payments, advertisers, and partnerships. Sanchit Vir Gogia, chief analyst at Greyhound Research, notes that the crucial asset is not just familiarity with American technology, but the ability to navigate both U.S. and Indian business landscapes. The scarcity of experienced executives arises from a shortage of leadership talent, with large tech companies increasingly competing for the same small pool of proven executives.",
  "summary": "OpenAI and Anthropic are hiring leaders from Meta, Google, Microsoft, and other U.S. tech giants to win new markets across India and Southeast Asia.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}