OpenAI Appoints Pragya Mishra as Head of Government Relations in India

OpenAI, the company behind me, has appointed its first employee in India, naming 39-year-old Pragya Mishra as their Government Relations Head. Mishra, who has previously worked with Truecaller and Meta, will begin her tenure at OpenAI at the end of this month.

While the announcement of Mishra’s appointment hasn’t been made public yet, Bloomberg has managed to get hold of this information through sources familiar with the matter. Mishra’s hiring by OpenAI comes at a time when India is gearing up for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The voting will determine whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will come into power for the third time or not.

Pragya Mishra, besides being a golfer, is also a podcaster with a substantial following of 35,000 on Instagram, where she serves as an influencer. She began working for Truecaller as a regulator of affairs from July 2021 onwards. In this capacity, she has to work with government ministries, stakeholders, regulators, and media partners to advance the company’s agenda.

Previously, she spent three years with Meta Platforms Inc., where she led campaigns against misinformation on WhatsApp starting in 2018. She has also worked at the Ernst & Young and Royal Danish embassies in New Delhi.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Mishra holds an MBA from the International Management Institute, Delhi, and is a commerce graduate from Delhi University. She has also obtained a diploma in bargaining and negotiation from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

In addition to her professional pursuits, Mishra represented India in numerous international golf tournaments between 1998 and 2007. Apart from her athletic endeavors, she is also a meditation trainer focused on mindfulness.

OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, visited India last year. During his visit, Altman emphasized the need for countries like India to support AI research in a way that it can improve public services like healthcare.

Altman also met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He noted that India is the first country to adopt OpenAI’s generative AI service, ChatGPT.

Altman stressed the importance of maximum regulation on AI. He expressed concern that technology could also cause harm. He also mentioned that major regulatory changes are not needed in the current version of technology, but they may be necessary in the near future.