OpenAI president Greg Brockman said the company could be ready for an IPO in 2027, as its enterprise business gains momentum. Speaking at a Wall Street Journal tech conference on Wednesday, he described a year of change in the company’s position with business customers.
A possible IPO follows a shift in confidence
Asked whether OpenAI would be IPO-ready next year, Brockman replied, “I think so. Yes.” He said the company had made clear this year that it wanted to go public when the timing felt right, and that he felt confident in the business and its progress.
His comments indicate that IPO readiness is a possibility, rather than a fixed date or announcement of a public offering. Brockman tied his confidence to the company’s progress, particularly its growing enterprise revenue. The source does not describe a filing, an offering schedule or other steps toward going public.
Enterprise growth accelerated after a difficult start
Brockman said OpenAI’s enterprise trajectory changed over 2026. He characterized the first and second quarters as “pretty rough” and said the company “wasn’t even in the conversation” in agentic coding, where Anthropic’s Claude Code had gained market share.
OpenAI had Codex, Brockman said, but it was not attracting attention. He credited the team with continuing to execute. By the third quarter, activity had picked up: annualized revenue grew 70% quarter over quarter, which he attributed to the enterprise side doubling.
He presented that result as the payoff from investments made over time, rather than a sudden effect of events within that quarter alone. In that account, the revenue increase reflects a longer build-up in the business, even as the company began the year facing challenges in enterprise and agentic coding.
Business customers now provide most revenue
Enterprise customers now account for the majority of OpenAI’s revenue, Brockman said. He contrasted that with an earlier point when the segment made up only around 30% of total revenue. Consumer revenue, he said, has also been growing; the enterprise business has simply expanded faster.
A recent partnership with J.P. Morgan Chase was one example Brockman offered of the kind of client OpenAI is now winning. The reference illustrates the company’s push into business relationships, while his remarks did not provide details about the partnership’s scope or financial contribution.
The shift matters to OpenAI’s IPO outlook because Brockman’s case for confidence rests partly on enterprise growth. The company’s revenue mix has changed, and he described the expansion as more than a one-quarter event. Still, his comments did not set out financial forecasts or specify how the business would perform in the future.
Winning enterprise trust is part of the work
Brockman also described lessons OpenAI learned from selling AI to businesses. He said the company’s role is to help clients identify important milestones they can reach with its technology, build trust and show that it can be a reliable long-term partner.
A year ago, he said, OpenAI was largely seen as a consumer company, and prospective business customers questioned whether it was committed to enterprise. Brockman said that perception has changed. The comments point to a broader challenge than simply attracting interest: the company must show clients where AI can help and demonstrate that it will support them over time.
For now, the IPO comment and the enterprise figures sit alongside that account of a changing business. Brockman expressed confidence and said a 2027 readiness target seemed possible. Whether and when OpenAI goes public, however, remains contingent on the company deciding that the timing is right.