OpenAI makes leadership shift to revive enterprise AI strategy
OpenAI appoints Barret Zoph to drive ChatGPT Enterprise adoption amid falling market share
OpenAI is betting big on enterprise sales in 2026, and it’s bringing back an insider to lead the charge. The company has appointed Barret Zoph to head its enterprise push, a strategic move as it faces declining market share in business AI usage.
Zoph’s return to OpenAI comes after a stint at Thinking Machine Labs, the AI startup founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati. While details about his departure from TML remain unclear, Zoph’s reentry signals a renewed focus on capturing the enterprise market, a space where OpenAI was once dominant but is now struggling to maintain traction.
This article explores OpenAI’s shift in strategy, what Zoph’s appointment means, and what marketers should take away as the AI arms race for enterprise dollars intensifies.
Short on time?
Here is a table of content:
- What happened: OpenAI names Barret Zoph to lead enterprise AI
- Why this matters: OpenAI’s enterprise dominance is slipping
- What marketers should know
Patrecia Meliana
OpenAI names Barret Zoph to lead enterprise AI
According to reporting from The Information, OpenAI has appointed Barret Zoph to lead its enterprise business strategy. Zoph had previously served as VP of post-training inference at the company from 2022 to 2024 before co-founding Thinking Machine Labs with Mira Murati. He rejoined OpenAI in January 2026.
Zoph is taking over at a critical time. OpenAI launched ChatGPT Enterprise back in 2023 and saw early momentum with big-name customers like SoftBank, Target, and Lowe’s. The company says more than 5 million business users have adopted the product.
However, the competitive landscape has shifted. According to Menlo Ventures, OpenAI’s enterprise usage market share dropped from 50 percent in 2023 to just 27 percent at the end of 2025. Anthropic surged to 40 percent in that same timeframe, while Google Gemini held steady at around 21 percent.
The internal alarm bells appear to be ringing. CEO Sam Altman reportedly acknowledged in a memo that Gemini’s growing adoption is starting to encroach on OpenAI’s market position. CFO Sarah Friar also emphasized in a blog post that enterprise expansion is a strategic focus for 2026.
OpenAI has already announced a new multi-year partnership with ServiceNow. The deal will embed OpenAI models into ServiceNow’s workflow products, giving OpenAI another foothold in enterprise applications.
OpenAI's enterprise dominance is slipping
OpenAI may have been first to market with an enterprise-grade LLM product, but it has struggled to defend that early lead. Rivals like Anthropic have won over security-conscious organizations by focusing on model reliability and safety. Google, on the other hand, is playing the long game with integrated AI services across Workspace and Cloud.
Zoph’s appointment signals a strategic pivot at OpenAI. Instead of leading with hype, the company now needs to deliver a scalable, secure, and business-friendly experience for enterprise buyers. Zoph’s technical background could help bridge product development and customer needs, especially if OpenAI wants to reposition itself as more than just a consumer chatbot vendor.
The ServiceNow deal also points to a shift toward deeper enterprise integrations. Rather than relying solely on API or standalone deployments, OpenAI seems to be chasing partnerships that put its models directly into operational tools used by sales, IT, and support teams.
What marketers should know
So what does this leadership shakeup actually mean for marketers working with AI today? Below are four key takeaways to help you navigate the changing enterprise landscape and stay ahead of how OpenAI’s next moves could impact your strategy.
1. Expect new enterprise features from OpenAI
With Zoph at the helm, ChatGPT Enterprise may evolve rapidly. Marketers should watch for updates like admin controls, multi-user collaboration, brand-safe outputs, and integrations with existing business tools such as Salesforce, HubSpot, or Notion.
2. Partnerships could shape where AI shows up next
OpenAI's collaboration with ServiceNow shows the company is prioritizing embedded AI. This means marketers may soon see OpenAI features integrated into CRM, project management, or customer service platforms. That could open up new use cases for automating workflows, generating sales collateral, or summarizing customer interactions.
3. Evaluate your LLM partner stack
If your marketing team is building internal tools or workflows powered by AI, now is the time to revisit your vendor landscape. OpenAI is no longer the default pick, especially in regulated or high-risk industries. Consider evaluating competitors like Anthropic or Google Gemini, which may offer stronger guarantees around data privacy, content safety, and cost efficiency.
4. Enterprise AI is now a C-suite conversation
The reshuffle highlights that AI adoption is now a top-down initiative. Marketers should anticipate more alignment between tech, legal, and finance when it comes to AI procurement. Be prepared to justify how AI tools support measurable outcomes like pipeline growth, lead conversion, or operational savings.
OpenAI knows it is losing ground in the enterprise AI race, and it is making moves to change that. Barret Zoph’s return marks more than just a personnel change. It’s a signal that the company is reorienting its business toward enterprise buyers in a more serious, structured way.
For marketers, this could mean better tools, more integrations, and renewed competition among AI vendors. Keep your options open, stay alert to product updates, and make sure your AI stack aligns with both current needs and future scalability.
