OpenAI Acqui-Hires Convogo Team to Strengthen AI Cloud Efforts

OpenAI has begun the new year with another acqui-hire, bringing on the team behind Convogo, a business software platform focused on automating leadership assessments and feedback for executive coaches, consultants, and HR teams.

The company is not acquiring Convogo’s technology or intellectual property, but is instead hiring its founders and team to support OpenAI’s AI cloud initiatives.

An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed that Convogo’s three co-founders—Matt Cooper, Evan Cater, and Mike Gillett—will join OpenAI under an all-stock deal. Convogo’s product will be shut down as part of the transition.

Convogo originated from a weekend hackathon inspired by a practical challenge faced by Cooper’s mother, an executive coach, who sought to reduce the time spent writing assessment reports.

Over the past two years, the startup said it worked with thousands of coaches and partnered with leading leadership development firms worldwide.

"We’ve always felt that the real problem we’re working on is bigger: AI keeps getting more and more intelligent, but without the right tooling, it’s hard to translate that intelligence into real outcomes. With every new model release, the gap between what’s possible and what’s realised gets wider.

"We’re convinced now more than ever that the key to bridging that gap lies in thoughtful, purpose-built experiences, like what we’ve built for coaches at Convogo. That’s why we’re thrilled to join OpenAI to continue our work of making AI accessible and useful to professionals in every industry," Cooper wrote on LinkedIn.