OpenAI is reportedly preparing for an initial public offering in 2027, according to its president Greg Brockman. During a Wall Street Journal tech conference on November 4, 2026, Brockman stated that the company could be IPO-ready next year, citing strong momentum in its enterprise business. He affirmed that leadership is confident in the company’s trajectory and believes the timing will be right.
From Rough Patch to Revenue Surge
Brockman didn’t sugarcoat the early months of 2026, referring to the first and second quarters as “pretty rough.” Despite these challenges, though, the situation turned sharply upward by the third quarter. OpenAI saw its annualized revenue shoot up by 70% from one quarter to the next—a jump Brockman attributes to a doubling of its enterprise segment.
Before this surge, enterprise contracts made up less than a third of OpenAI’s total revenue. Consumer revenue has also grown, but not at the same explosive rate—the enterprise side is now clearly driving the business forward. A recent deal with J.P. Morgan Chase was cited as emblematic of the type of major client the company is now closing.
Finding Its Place in Agentic Coding & Enterprise AI
One of OpenAI’s challenges earlier this year was in agentic coding. The company had offerings such as Codex long before, but Brockman said it wasn’t part of the conversation until recently—especially in contrast to Anthropic’s Claude Code, which had gained traction.
To win bigger enterprise customers, OpenAI focused on understanding what businesses actually need: key milestones, trustworthy relationships, and long-term reliability. A year ago, many prospective clients doubted OpenAI’s commitment to the enterprise market. That perception has shifted, Brockman said—today the company is viewed as fully invested in enterprise AI.
All of this builds toward the IPO preparations. Brockman emphasized that OpenAI has made what he believes is meaningful progress this year, giving him strong confidence that 2027 could be the moment to go public.
This matters because OpenAI’s IPO would mark one of the most anticipated public offerings in AI—coming as rivals like Anthropic push deeper into both enterprise and agentic applications. If its enterprise revenue holds up, 2027 could become a milestone year not just for OpenAI, but for the broader industry. Observers will want to track whether OpenAI sustains its growth in enterprise deals, how it positions agentic coding against competition, and how macroeconomic conditions influence its IPO timing.
