From engineering student to CEO of OpenAI India: Prabhjeet Singh’s inspiring journey

Prabhjeet Singh has been announced as the new Director of OpenAI in India after years of negotiating with leadership at one of the world’s largest untapped companies to lead the expansion of OpenAI in one of its most important markets. Singh studied at Delhi Public School, RK Puram before receiving his B.Tech in Electronics and Communication Engineering from IIT Kharagpur. He later completed his MBA in General Management from IIM Ahmedabad, where he graduated among the top 2% of his class. During his time at the school, he led the Consulting group, served on the Students’ Affairs Council and moderated the Harvard College Asia Business Forum. He also received the Aditya Birla Scholarship, the KVS Gold Medal for top achievers and industry scholars for academic excellence. His corporate career began in 2005 at Lehman Brothers in London, where he worked as a Senior Analyst. A year later, he joined McKinsey & Company and stayed there for over nine years, eventually becoming a Partner. During this time, he advised 30 public and private organizations in finance, telecom and consumer technology, while also working on digital banking and payments. In August 2015, Singh joined them Uber as the Director of Strategy. Over the next decade, he held several leadership positions, including General Manager for Delhi and North India, Director for North, East and West India and Bangladesh, and Director of Cities and Growth. In June 2020, he became President of India and South Asia, leading Uber’s business across India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Under his leadership, India became one of Uber’s fastest growing and largest markets globally. Singh was also named in The Economic Times 40 Under 40 list in 2019 and later received the Young Alumni Achiever Award of IIM Ahmedabad. Now OpenAI has appointed him as the Managing Director for India, responsible for customer growth, business adoption, strategic partnerships, strategic initiatives and operations. His appointment comes as OpenAI expands its presence in India, which CEO Sam Altman has repeatedly said is one of the company’s most important markets.