At a Glance
- OpenAI brings back former CTO Barret Zoph to lead its enterprise AI push.
- The company’s enterprise product now serves over 5 million business users.
- Market share for OpenAI’s enterprise LLM has fallen from 50 % in 2023 to 27 % by the end of 2025.
- Why it matters: A leadership change signals a strategic shift as OpenAI faces growing competition from Anthropic and Google.
OpenAI has reshuffled its leadership, appointing Barret Zoph to spearhead the company’s efforts to sell AI to business customers. The move comes as OpenAI looks to catch up to rivals in 2026 and as its enterprise market share continues to decline.
Leadership Shakeup
OpenAI announced that Zoph will head the organization’s enterprise sales and product strategy. The announcement followed a memo that Zoph returned to the company last week after leaving Thinking Machine Labs, an AI startup founded by former OpenAI co-founder Mira Murati. Zoph had been a co-founder and chief technology officer at the startup since October 2024.
The circumstances of Zoph’s departure from the startup are unclear. Rumors suggest he and a few other former OpenAI employees may have been fired or left voluntarily, possibly with plans to return to the company.
Zoph’s previous role at OpenAI was vice president of post-training inference from September 2022 to October 2024. His new position is a significant shift, and the company expects him to play a key role in expanding its enterprise business-a segment where OpenAI is losing ground to competitors.
Enterprise AI Landscape
OpenAI launched its enterprise-focused ChatGPT Enterprise product in 2023, more than a year before Anthropic introduced a similar offering and several years before Google launched its enterprise LLM. The company claims the product has more than 5 million business users and lists SoftBank, Target, and Lowe’s among its customers.
Despite this user base, OpenAI’s market share is falling while rivals are climbing. Anthropic currently dominates the enterprise large language model market, holding a 40 % share according to a December report from VC firm Menlo Ventures. In July, Anthropic’s share was estimated at 32 %.
Google’s Gemini adoption has been steadier. The company released its enterprise product last fall and has seen its enterprise LLM usage market share largely stay the same, growing from 20 % in July to 21 % at the end of the year.
OpenAI’s share has dropped from 50 % in 2023 to 27 % by the end of 2025-a trend that has raised concerns within the company. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman expressed worry that Google Gemini’s growth was starting to encroach on OpenAI in an internal memo a few months ago.
Market Share Trends
| Company | July | December | End-2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | 32 % | 40 % | – |
| Google Gemini | 20 % | 21 % | – |
| OpenAI | – | – | 27 % |
The table illustrates how Anthropic and Google have maintained or improved their positions, while OpenAI’s share has fallen sharply. The data come from Menlo Ventures’ reports and internal company metrics.
Strategic Moves
OpenAI’s CFO Sarah Friar highlighted enterprise growth as a focus for 2026 in a blog post released on Sunday. In the same post, the company announced an expanded multi-year partnership with ServiceNow. The deal will give ServiceNow customers direct access to OpenAI models, potentially expanding OpenAI’s reach into new verticals.
The partnership follows a broader strategy to integrate OpenAI’s technology into enterprise workflows. By leveraging ServiceNow’s platform, OpenAI aims to embed its models into business process automation, customer service, and data analytics.
Key Takeaways
- OpenAI has hired Barret Zoph to lead its enterprise AI efforts.
- The company’s enterprise product serves over 5 million business users.
- Market share for OpenAI’s enterprise LLM fell from 50 % in 2023 to 27 % by the end of 2025.
- Anthropic and Google have strengthened their positions, with Anthropic at 40 % share.
- A new partnership with ServiceNow signals a push to deepen enterprise integration.
These developments underscore the competitive pressure OpenAI faces in the enterprise AI market and its efforts to counterbalance rivals’ gains.
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News Of Philadelphia reached out to OpenAI for confirmation and more information.
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Becca is a senior writer at News Of Philadelphia that covers venture capital trends and startups. She previously covered the same beat for Forbes and the Venture Capital Journal.
You can contact or verify outreach from Becca by emailing Jordan M. Lewis@News Of Philadelphia.com.
