On May 11, OpenAI did something unexpected for a research laboratory. It launched a consulting firm called DeployCo with over $4 billion in funding. The company's goal is clear: stop selling AI to large corporations and start building it inside their organizations.
DeployCo is majority-owned by OpenAI and structured as a Delaware company. The lead investor is TPG, an American private equity firm, with other investors including Advent International, Bain Capital and Brookfield. Interestingly, major consulting firms like McKinsey, Bain & Company and Capgemini have become both investors and partners, even though they compete with DeployCo.
Brad Lightcap, formerly OpenAI's Chief Operating Officer, now runs DeployCo. Denise Dresser, OpenAI's Chief Revenue Officer and former CEO of Slack, leads the public announcement. Their strategy involves hiring Forward Deployed Engineers, technical workers who live inside customer offices and build software using the customer's own data.
To quickly build this team, DeployCo purchased Tomoro, a London-based AI consulting company founded in 2023. This acquisition brought approximately 150 engineers to DeployCo, along with major clients including Tesco, Virgin Atlantic, Mattel, Red Bull and Supercell. OpenAI plans to use its funding to acquire more AI engineering teams.
Within hours, Anthropic announced its own competing venture, backed by Blackstone and other investors. OpenAI's strategy is straightforward: companies need help connecting AI to their existing systems, not just the technology itself.