OpenAI put Ismail Elmas in charge of EMEA sales, with Elmas based in Munich. He moved to OpenAI after working at Cursor, where he started in April. Before Cursor, Elmas spent more than 20 years in software and cybersecurity, including roles at Rubrik Inc. and Zscaler Inc.
SpaceX acquired Cursor in August for $60 billion. Last month, OpenAI also brought in Brian McCarthy, another senior alum from Cursor, as vice president of worldwide sales. With Elmas now on board, that marks two sales leaders OpenAI has hired from SpaceX since September.
Regional leadership hires show where a company plans to grow next. Market Briefs covers the AI business free every weekday.
OpenAI is trying to widen its commercial footprint in Europe as policymakers there grow more cautious about depending on American tech firms. Alongside exploring a potential public listing, the developer behind ChatGPT is aiming to lift its income by focusing on corporate clients and expanding into additional avenues such as advertising.
OpenAI maintains close connections in the United Arab Emirates, where it is advancing plans for a significant data-center build in the country, a program originally laid out before the US war with Iran. Across Africa, rivals from China - such as DeepSeek - are increasingly challenging the company and expanding their footprint throughout the region. Meanwhile, Elon Musk, who helped found OpenAI, has sued the company, claiming it abandoned its mission to serve the public by shifting to a for-profit structure. Musk launched a rival developer, xAI, and later merged it with SpaceX.
More seasoned sales leadership plus a push into enterprise deals, ads and infrastructure tends to lead to more packaged AI products and updated pricing. As OpenAI scales and squares off with rivals like DeepSeek, expect the AI tools at work and at home to evolve quickly in features and cost.
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