Sandhya Devanathan is an Indian technology executive who is the current Vice President and Managing Director of Meta India, a role held since January 2023.[1][2]
After finishing her MBA, Devanathan worked at Citibank.[5] In December 2009, she moved to Singapore to work at Standard Chartered.[6]
In January 2016, Devanathan moved to Meta as the Group Director of South East Asia of Ecommerce, Travel, and Finserv. In August 2016, Devanathan made a shift within the company to a newly created role of Country Managing Director of Facebook Singapore.[7] On top of that, in 2018 she additionally took on the role of Business Head of Vietnam.[8] During her nearly five years' tenure, she led Facebook Singapore under the supervision of Kenneth Bishop, who moved to Juul in 2020. In April 2020, Devanathan became the new Vice President of Gaming in the Asia Pacific region.[9][10]
While in this role, during an interview with CNBC, Devanathan said that a large part of the female gaming market was being overlooked, therefore profits were a fraction of what they could be. She said, "Women now comprise nearly half of the gaming industry and games need to reflect that growing diversity." She also added, "The gaming industry should reflect the growing diversity of its demographics if it wants to succeed."[11]
In November 2022, amid mass layoffs of over 11,000 employees, she took up the vacant position of Vice President of Meta India, which had been previously left vacant by Ajit Mohan.[12][13][14] Other senior staff leaving the company included the former WhatsApp Head for India, Abhijit Bose.[15]
In 2023 and 2024, Fortune India put Devanathan on their list of India’s most powerful women. In 2023, Devanathan was placed at number 47. [16] In 2024, Devanathan was placed at number 27.
In 2024, Devanathan was placed as the 95th Most Powerful Woman in Asia by Fortune Asia.[17]
In 2023, Devanathan announced Meta's partnership with ONDC, aimed at democratizing commerce for the greater majority of Indians.[18]
In 2013, Devanathan became a mentor for UN Women on Project Inspire.[20] She was a Board Member of the National Library Board.[21] Within Meta, she has served as the Coach of the Leap Leadership Program for Women in FB (Meta) since January 2018. She is also on the Global Diversity Equity Council within Meta, and is the current Executive Sponsor for Women in APAC region.[22]