OpenAI hires its first CMO

OpenAI has hired Kate Rouch as its first chief marketing officer, the ChatGPT maker told Ad Age, as it looks to capitalize on its growing popularity in the AI space. Rouch, who most recently served as CMO at Coinbase, will start Dec. 10. Rouch will focus on marketing OpenAI’s product suite, including ChatGPT, for both consumer and enterprise audiences, she told Ad Age. Rouch will also lead marketing of the company’s mission to develop AI as powerful as human cognition, known as artificial general intelligence (AGI). Rouch will report to Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap and will help expand the company’s marketing division to include talent such as brand marketers and researchers, Rouch said. The hire comes after OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar told the Financial Times that the company is “open to exploring other revenue streams” to boost its subscription-based business, but that it has no plans to do so at this time. OpenAI, which exploded onto the scene in 2022 with the wide release of ChatGPT, has refrained from marketing, even while competitors such as Google and Perplexity have aired national TV ads. Now, “you can expect to see us go on the offense,” Rouch said. Before joining Coinbase as the cryptocurrency platform’s first CMO in 2021, Rouch spent 11 years at Meta, most recently as global head of brand and product marketing for Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, Facebook app, public affairs and corporate. At Coinbase, Rouch was involved with a 2022 Super Bowl ad that featured a bouncing QR code. The spot gained widespread attention, especially inside the ad industry after then-The Martin Agency’s CEO Kristin Cavallo took issue with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong's assertion on social media that “no ad agency would have done this ad.” Cavallo suggested her shop had come up with the idea. Accenture Interactive got initial credit for the ad. Rouch in a social media post explained that while multiple agencies pitched Coinbase ideas, the company ended up going in its own direction, noting that Coinbase parted ways with Martin shortly after she started.

OpenAI hires its first CMO

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