Roblox Broadens Leadership Bench to Drive Global Expansion

Roblox is announcing five new roles to position the company for accelerated global growth. John Ciancutti is joining as Roblox’s first Chief Growth Officer (CGO). Also joining are four regional General Managers (GMs): Joost Hagesteijn for Europe, Sunil Rao for India, Diego Dzodan for Latin America, and Mohamed El Sheakh for the Middle East.

Ciancutti will serve as the product leader for Roblox’s Discovery and International teams. With a proven track record leading teams at Netflix, Meta, and, most recently, Amazon Music, Ciancutti brings expertise in personalization, content discovery, and scaling consumer products globally. This experience will be beneficial for his role leading Roblox through significant global growth.

“Joining Roblox is a chance to build the future of play. 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,” said Ciancutti. “I’m excited to support the product innovation necessary to help more people around the world discover the games that resonate most with them.”

Hagesteijn will oversee Roblox’s European strategy and champion a growing community of creators. With over 28 million daily active users,* Europe sits at the intersection of Roblox’s growth, innovation, and creator ecosystem. Previously, Hagesteijn was GM for Northern Europe at Snap Inc., where he led the company’s expansion across several countries.

Rao will support India’s growing creator community. In Q1 2026, the number of Roblox developers** generating revenue in India grew 71% year-over-year. Rao previously led Strategy and Corporate Business Development for the Asia-Pacific and Japan region at Amazon Web Services (AWS). Prior to AWS, Rao was at Lightspeed Venture Partners and scaled developer ecosystems at Symbian, Nokia, and Google.

Dzodan will support Latin America’s rapidly growing creator community and foster partnerships. In Q1 2026, the number of Roblox developers** generating revenue in Latin America grew 56% year-over-year. Dzodan previously served as Meta’s Vice President, Latin America, and co-founded Facily in Brazil.

El Sheakh will lead Roblox’s Middle East strategy and operations, with a focus on scaling local presence and partnerships. El Sheakh previously served on the global leadership team of the App Store at Apple, Microsoft, and Nokia. He most recently led Games Ventures, an enterprise focused on building the regional gaming ecosystem across studios, creators, investors, and the public sector.