Key Points
- OpenAI acqui‑hires the three co‑founders of Convogo: Matt Cooper, Evan Cater, and Mike Gillett.
- The deal does not include Convogo’s product or technology, which will be discontinued.
- Convogo helped thousands of executive coaches and partnered with top leadership‑development firms.
- Founders will work on OpenAI’s AI cloud efforts under an all‑stock arrangement.
- This is OpenAI’s ninth acquisition in a year, continuing a pattern of talent‑focused purchases.
- Previous acquisitions have either integrated products into OpenAI’s ecosystem or shut them down while retaining teams.
- The acquisition underscores OpenAI’s strategy to accelerate capabilities by hiring specialized AI talent.
OpenAI expands talent pool with Convogo acqui‑hire
OpenAI confirmed that it is acquiring the team behind Convogo, a business‑software platform that assists executive coaches, consultants, talent leaders, and HR professionals in automating leadership assessments and feedback reporting. The acquisition focuses solely on the three co‑founders—Matt Cooper, Evan Cater, and Mike Gillett—who will join OpenAI to work on its AI cloud initiatives. The agreement is described as an all‑stock deal, and OpenAI clarified that it is not acquiring Convogo’s intellectual property or technology.
Convogo’s product will be wound down following the transaction. The startup originated from a weekend hackathon sparked by a question from Cooper’s mother, an executive coach, about whether AI could automate the tedious aspects of report writing. Over the past two years, Convogo reportedly helped thousands of coaches and partnered with leading leadership‑development firms.
The founders highlighted a core challenge they identified in their work: bridging the gap between the capabilities of each new AI model release and translating those capabilities into tangible, real‑world outcomes. They expressed confidence that purpose‑built experiences, like those they created at Convogo, are essential to closing that gap, and they are excited to continue this mission at OpenAI.
This acquisition marks OpenAI’s ninth purchase within a year, according to PitchBook data. In prior deals, OpenAI has either integrated acquired products into its own ecosystem—examples include Sky, an AI interface for Mac, and Statsig, a product‑testing firm—or has shut down the products while retaining the teams, as seen with Roi, Context.ai, and Crossing Minds. The only notable exception is OpenAI’s acquisition of Jonny Ive’s io Products, which continues its product roadmap in collaboration with OpenAI to develop AI hardware.
Analysts view the Convogo acqui‑hire as part of OpenAI’s broader strategy to accelerate talent acquisition and expand its capabilities in the rapidly evolving AI market. By bringing in a team with deep experience in applying AI to professional services, OpenAI aims to enhance the accessibility and usefulness of its AI tools across a wide range of industries.
Source: techcrunch.com