Roblox has announced five major leadership appointments as the platform pushes forward with ambitious international growth plans. The company revealed a new Chief Growth Officer role alongside four regional General Managers focused on expanding Roblox’s creator ecosystem and player communities across key markets worldwide.
Leading the announcement is John Ciancutti, who joins Roblox as the company’s first-ever Chief Growth Officer (CGO). Ciancutti will oversee Roblox’s Discovery and International teams, helping improve how users discover experiences on the platform while supporting the company’s worldwide expansion efforts.
Before joining Roblox, Ciancutti held leadership roles at Netflix, Meta, and Amazon Music, gaining experience in personalization systems, content discovery, and scaling products for global audiences.
“Joining Roblox is a chance to build the future of play,” Ciancutti said in the announcement. “As CGO, my priority is to help optimize our sophisticated Discovery technology and drive international expansion with the on-the-ground expertise of our new regional leadership.”
Alongside Ciancutti’s appointment, Roblox also introduced four new regional General Managers who will focus on supporting creators, partnerships, and operations in rapidly growing regions.
Europe
Joost Hagesteijn will lead Roblox’s European strategy. Europe remains one of Roblox’s largest and fastest-growing markets, with over 28 million daily active users according to the company.
Hagesteijn previously worked at Snap Inc., where he served as General Manager for Northern Europe and helped expand the company across multiple countries.
India
Sunil Rao has been appointed to oversee Roblox’s growth in India, particularly focusing on the country’s rising creator community.
Roblox reported that the number of revenue-generating developers in India increased by 71% year-over-year during Q1 2026. Rao previously worked at Amazon Web Services and also held roles connected to developer ecosystems at Google and Nokia.
Latin America
Diego Dzodan will lead Roblox’s strategy in Latin America, another region seeing rapid creator growth.
According to Roblox, the number of developers generating revenue in Latin America grew 56% year-over-year in Q1 2026. Dzodan previously served as Vice President of Latin America at Meta and also co-founded Brazilian company Facily.
Middle East, North Africa, and Türkiye
Mohamed El Sheakh will oversee strategy and operations across the Middle East, North Africa, and Türkiye region.
El Sheakh previously held leadership roles connected to the Apple App Store, Microsoft, and Nokia. Most recently, he worked on developing regional gaming ecosystems through Games Ventures.
The new appointments highlight Roblox’s growing focus on international expansion and creator-driven growth. By adding leadership teams directly within key regions, Roblox aims to strengthen local partnerships, support developers, and help more users discover experiences tailored to their interests.
With creator economies rapidly expanding across Europe, India, Latin America, and the MENA region, these new hires signal that Roblox is preparing for its next phase of global growth.
