Ex-Coursera Executive Raghav Gupta To Lead Education For OpenAI In India

ChatGPT parent OpenAI has appointed former Coursera MD for India and Asia Pacific, Raghav Gupta, to lead its education vertical in India and Asia Pacific.

“We recently hired Raghav to join our Delhi office to lead as the head of education for India and APAC, working locally with our team,” OpenAI VP Leah Belsky said during OpenAI Education Summit India. 

Gupta was with Coursera for eight years prior to joining OpenAI. In his professional experience of nearly three decades, the INSEAD alumnus has worked with BlaBlaCar, Booz & Company, Kurt Salmon, among others.

The appointment comes shortly after the AI giant announced plans to open its first office in India in Delhi. It is also hiring for multiple roles in the country right now. 

A few days ago, OpenAI appointed former Meta marketing lead, Sheeladitya Mohanty, as its marketing lead for India. In the new role, Mohanty would be “driving education, adoption, and responsible use of OpenAI’s products across key audiences, to make AI accessible and impactful across India”.

Besides the appointment of Gupta, the company also announced the launch of OpenAI learning accelerator, for which it has partnered the Ministry of Education and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). 

Belsky said that the company is looking to drive access to its latest model, Chat GPT 5.0, for educators to train students and teachers for AI throughout India. 

“And the hope is, as we learn with a smaller population how students and teachers work in urban and rural areas, we’ll then replicate the practices throughout the rest of India and through the rest of the world,” she added.

Further, the company also announced a grant of $500K for IIT Madras to fund and advance long-term research on cognitive outcomes of AI. Via the grant, OpenAI is bidding to study how AI can be used in the classroom. “As we advance these findings, they will be shared openly to both in India as well as in the world,” the VP noted.

The developments come amid OpenAI’s aggressive expansion push in India. Last week, the company announced the launch of its new subscription plan, ChatGPT Go, in India, priced at INR 399 per month. The new plan is about 80% lower than its previous mid-range plan ChatGPT Plus, and offers selective features of ChatGPT with extended access.

Besides, OpenAI founder Sam Altman is also scheduled to visit the country in September. “AI adoption in India has been amazing to watch – ChatGPT users grew 4X in the past year – and we are excited to invest much more in India!” Altman said in a post on X.

The company is doubling down on the country given Altman’s belief that it would host the largest market for ChatGPT in the near future. “The level of excitement and opportunity for AI in India is incredible. India has all ingredients to become a global AI leader – amazing tech talent, a world-class developer ecosystem, and strong government support through the IndiaAI Mission,” Altman recently said on Nikhil Kamath’s WTF podcast. 

The global giant’s focus on India comes as the country’s AI startup ecosystem is also picking up significant pace, with over $1.5 Bn raised by native startups between 2022 and Q1 2025, as per Inc42 data.