OpenAI has appointed Cork native Mark Bambury to head up its fledgling advertising business across Europe, the Middle East and Africa as the ChatGPT owner ramps up its push into the global digital advertising market.
Bambury will be based at OpenAI’s European headquarters in Dublin and will lead the company’s EMEA advertising operation as it expands across the region.
His appointment comes as OpenAI said its global advertising business has surpassed an annualised revenue run rate of $1 billion less than 200 days after launching.
It also follows the rollout of ChatGPT Ads across 31 European markets and the opening of its beta self-service Ads Manager to eligible advertisers in those countries.
The move allows start-ups, SMEs and larger advertisers to create and manage advertising campaigns directly through OpenAI, although brands can also continue to buy advertising through agency and technology partners.
Bambury joins OpenAI with more than 15 years’ experience in the digital advertising industry, including senior roles at Roblox, Google and Twitter, now X.
Most recently, he was senior director of brand partnerships at Roblox, where he was involved in establishing and developing the gaming platform’s advertising business and worked with a number of major international brands.
Before joining Roblox, Bambury held a number of senior positions at Google across EMEA and also worked at Twitter/X in both Europe and the US.
His appointment comes at a significant point in OpenAI’s efforts to develop advertising as a substantial new revenue stream alongside its existing subscription and enterprise businesses.
The rapid expansion of ChatGPT Ads also positions OpenAI more directly alongside major digital advertising platforms including Google and Meta, while opening up a potentially significant new advertising environment built around conversational AI and product discovery.
Dave Dugan, vice president and head of global ads solutions at OpenAI, said the company’s EMEA division would have an important role in the development of the company’s advertising operation.
“Advertising is entering a new era, and EMEA will play an important role in shaping what comes next,” Dugan said.
“Our ambition is to build a team that combines global vision with a deep understanding of the region’s clients and markets, and Mark is the right leader to take that forward.”
Bambury said the growth of ChatGPT was creating new opportunities for brands to connect with consumers.
“I couldn’t be more excited to join OpenAI at this moment,” he said.
“ChatGPT is creating an entirely new way for businesses and people to discover one another, and the opportunity across EMEA is enormous. I’m looking forward to working with clients to bring that opportunity to life.”
The expansion of OpenAI’s advertising business will be closely watched by agencies, advertisers and other digital platforms given the rapid growth in the use of generative AI for product research, search and recommendations.
For advertisers, one of the key questions will be how commercial messages are integrated into conversational AI environments without undermining user trust and authenticity in the answers generated by the technology.
OpenAI said advertisements on ChatGPT remain clearly labelled and separate from its responses and do not influence the answers users receive.
It also said advertisers do not receive users’ conversations or personal data and that users remain in control of their experience.
Earlier this month, OpenAI said it plans to create 250 jobs in Dublin over the next two years in order to meet rapidly growing demand from users, customers and developers across the European region.
The company has already moved into the 88,000 square foot Tropical Fruit Warehouse building in Dublin which is now its EMEA headquarter.
The company already has over 100 employees in Ireland and the new roles are expected to be filled across a number of departments including advertising, marketing, engineering, UX, HR, finance, legal and privacy.
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