OpenAI Brings Back Barret Zoph to Lead Enterprise Push
OpenAI has restructured aspects of its leadership framework and named Barret Zoph to head its enterprise AI sales initiatives, as the company intensifies its attention on business clients in 2026. The action was noted by The Information, referencing an internal company memorandum.
Zoph returned to OpenAI last week after departing from Thinking Machine Labs, an AI startup established by ex-OpenAI CTO Mira Murati. He had been a co-founder and CTO at the startup since October 2024. OpenAI has not disclosed the specifics regarding his exit or reentry to the public.
Zoph held the position of vice president of post-training inference at OpenAI from September 2022 to October 2024. His new position signifies a transition from technical leadership to a business emphasis, as OpenAI aims to enhance the use of its AI products within enterprise clients.
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In 2023, OpenAI launched ChatGPT Enterprise, marking its entry into the enterprise market before competitors Anthropic and Google. The firm claims the product boasts over five million business users and includes companies like SoftBank, Target, and Lowe’s as its clients.
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Even with its initial launch, OpenAI's portion of enterprise large language model utilization has decreased. A report from venture capital firm Menlo Ventures in December indicated that OpenAI's share of enterprise usage declined from 50 percent in 2023 to 27 percent by the close of 2025. During that timeframe, Anthropic raised its share to 40 percent, whereas Google’s Gemini platform saw a slight increase from 20 percent to 21 percent.
Internal messages have revealed worries within OpenAI regarding increasing competition, especially from Google's enterprise AI products. OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman emphasized the importance of tackling competitive challenges in the enterprise market.
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The growth of enterprises has been recognized as a key focus for 2026. OpenAI's chief financial officer, Sarah Friar, emphasized this priority in a recent blog entry. The firm has additionally revealed a broadened multi-year collaboration with ServiceNow, focused on providing OpenAI’s models to ServiceNow’s corporate clients.