OpenAI is undergoing a significant leadership shake-up as it doubles down on expanding its consumer and business-facing products. In a bold move, the company has announced the $1.1 billion acquisition of product analytics firm Statsig while creating new executive roles to sharpen its applications strategy.

At the center of this transformation is Vijaye Raji, founder and CEO of Statsig. Once the deal closes, Raji will step into the newly created position of Chief Technology Officer of Applications, reporting directly to Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s CEO of Applications. His mandate will be broad: leading product engineering for ChatGPT and Codex, while also overseeing infrastructure and integrity across OpenAI’s growing portfolio of consumer tools.

Raji, an engineer of Indian origin from Puducherry, brings deep expertise in scaling platforms—a skillset OpenAI hopes will power the next phase of its growth. His company, Statsig, is best known for its A/B testing and product experimentation tools, which OpenAI sees as crucial for optimizing services as it races to expand its user base.

In a blog post, OpenAI reassured existing Statsig customers that the company would continue to operate independently out of its Seattle office. “Once the acquisition is finalised, Statsig employees will become OpenAI employees. It will continue operating independently and serving its customer base out of its Seattle office. We’ll take a measured approach to any future integration, ensuring continuity for current customers and enabling the team to stay focused on what they do best,” the statement read.

This leadership reshuffle comes just weeks after Fidji Simo, the former Instacart chief executive, assumed her role at OpenAI on August 18. Tasked with building out the company’s applications division, Simo is already making her mark with sweeping structural changes.

The executive realignment doesn’t end with Raji’s appointment. Srinivas Narayanan, a longtime engineering leader at OpenAI, has been elevated to CTO of B2B Applications, another newly minted role. He will report directly to COO Brad Lightcap and oversee all enterprise-facing solutions—from startups and large corporations to government clients. Narayanan has been instrumental in building ChatGPT APIs and developer tools, making him a natural fit to spearhead OpenAI’s enterprise push.

Meanwhile, Kevin Weil, OpenAI’s Chief Product Officer, will transition back toward the research side of the business. He will now serve as Vice President of AI for Science, working closely with Chief Research Officer Mark Chen to launch a new research-driven initiative. Weil’s former product teams, including those managing ChatGPT, will now report to Simo under the applications structure.

These changes underscore OpenAI’s ambition to treat applications as a standalone pillar of its business, distinct from its research arm. By layering in proven executives and acquiring key infrastructure players, the company is signaling that it intends not only to deliver cutting-edge AI models but also to dominate the fast-growing market for products built on top of them.

The Statsig acquisition, one of OpenAI’s largest corporate deals to date, highlights its strategy of pairing innovation with robust experimentation capabilities. With Simo steering the division, Raji strengthening its engineering backbone, and Narayanan focusing on enterprise adoption, OpenAI appears well positioned for its next stage of growth.