Instacart CEO Fidji Simo believes Openai will grow more than 100 times more business as the synergy of various lines of business (basic artificial intelligence (AI) models, applications and AI devices will supercharge the company in the coming years.
Speak at the Vivatech 2025 conference in Paris – her first public interview since being appointed CEO of Openai's application in May – Simo said the opportunity for growth is “100 times more, and it's just the beginning.”
In an X's post that announced X's employment, Openai CEO Sam Altman called Simo an “exceptional” candidate to help Openai “scaling the next 10 or 100 times.”
During a fireplace chat on Thursday (June 12th), Shimo laid out a bold vision of how AI will become a “ambient layer” in everyday life, reconstructing how billions of people work, learn, shop and manage their health.
Simo, who will formally join Openai in August, will report directly to Altman and lead the accusations to translate the company's cutting-edge research into mass market applications.
“My team is responsible for the incredible research breakthroughs that the company produces and is really responsible for distributing it to society in the best possible way, so people try to see the benefits of AI.” “It reflects in empowerment in their lives.”
Simo said that AI “empowers everyone to enable us to regain some of our time through productivity. It will allow us to further express our creative potential through all our creative tools. We will have access to knowledge and wisdom that was limited to the lucky ones in the past.
Shimo will be openly involved at crucial times. The latest acquisition of IO's former Apple designer Jony Ive's AI device launch and Openai's foundation model and SIMO-leading application creates a multi-tiered company with a diverse product line.
Simo brings a track record of consumer technology transformation to Openai. At Instacart, she said she has hired a food delivery company in the pandemic era and has been rebuilt into a data-rich platform that powers the digital transformation of grocery shopping.
“When I joined (Instacart) in 2021, I had the luxury of being on the board for six months,” Simo said. “It was right after the peak of the pandemic, and many people were wondering if grocery delivery would just become a trend, or if it would really be permanent.”
Instead, Shimo saw a long-term opportunity. Brick and Mortal grocery stores will help digitalize every aspect of their operations, from supply chains to advertising.
Under her leadership, Instacart launched a retail media network and AI-enhanced shopping tool, including Caper Cart, a smart shopping cart that uses computer vision and AI.
When asked why fully automated stores like Amazon's Go aren't getting traction, Simo said customers “don't want stores that are completely lacking.” Instead, these technologies help to boost the human workforce. “It's really a magic combo and we see it as an enhancement rather than a replacement.”
Internally, Simo led a company-wide AI adoption initiative at Instacart, asking all teams to identify recurring tasks and explore AI solutions. Results: 87% of code written by engineers are AI-supported, marketing teams use AI to turn existing food images into videos and reuse them in new campaigns, PR teams use AI journalist persona to practice press interviews, and legal teams use AI to analyze contracts and other documents.
“The whole company is AI-enabled,” Shimo said.
read more: Openai chooses Instacart's Chief Fidji Simo and oversees the operation
Entering the big league
Simo's new role in Openai places her at the heart of one of the most consequential companies in AI. ChatGpt has made AI a home term, but according to Simo, Openai's future goes far beyond chatbots and large-scale language models.
“You can start thinking of AI as the surroundings,” Shimo said. “It's not just GPT, but potentially enabled through the device.”
Openai has already touched hundreds of millions of users, but Simo believes it has the potential to grow by enabling its “agent team of services.”
However, Agent AI is full of promise, but not ready for prime time. The June 2025 PYMNTS Intelligence Report states, “By adopting generative artificial intelligence that is almost universal across large enterprises, excitement is building around Agent AI.
“However, the current implementation of genai consistently requires human surveillance and raises questions about how Agent AI, the next-generation software that operates completely freely in humans, can reach its full potential,” the report added.
“AI at the intersection: the agent's ambitions meet operational reality,” said the CEO at this stage that autonomous AI agents are not prepared to perform high-risk tasks without human supervision.
When asked why so many enterprise AI efforts fail, Shimo pointed out a common pitfall. I implemented AI for itself. Companies need to start with the problem they want to solve. Every company has boring or repetitive tasks that AI can tackle, she said.
At Instacart, Simo launched a framework that includes AI training for employees, designating internal “advocates” to help teams adopt new tools. She said this approach can inform how Openai expands its own applications — embed AI into real workflows and build infrastructure for widespread social adoption.
Shimo also provides personal motivation for working with AI. Diagnosed in 2020 with a “pretty nasty” neuroimmune condition, she set up a laboratory to collect health data in the hopes of using AI to accelerate medical discoveries. She sees short-term possibilities for AI to democratize access to health knowledge.
As Openai prepares for the next wave of growth, Simo's appointment shows a shift towards the development of AI products for the large-scale mass market.
“ChatGpt reaches hundreds of millions of people, but in reality, AI should change the lives of everyone,” says Simo. “We need to reach billions, and once we reach billions, we need to make sure each person can find value in multiple use cases.”
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