OpenAI hires Mark Bambury to run advertising in EMEA from Dublin

OpenAI has hired Mark Bambury to run its advertising business across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He works from Dublin, where the company keeps its European headquarters. Bambury arrives from Roblox, where he led brand partnerships.

Google, Twitter and Roblox before OpenAI

Bambury has more than 15 years in digital advertising. He held senior roles at Google in EMEA and worked for Twitter, now X, in Europe and the United States. His last title at Roblox was senior director of brand partnerships.

ChatGPT Ads passed a billion dollars in under 200 days

The job comes with a very young business. OpenAI started selling ads this year, and the product passed a one billion dollar annual run rate in fewer than 200 days. Ads now run in 31 European markets. Eligible advertisers can buy through a self-serve Ads Manager, still in beta.

Partners are lining up around it. Adform became an OpenAI partner for ChatGPT ads in Europe earlier this year. Bambury inherits those relationships and the agencies behind them.

OpenAI plans 250 more jobs in Dublin

OpenAI employs more than 100 people in Ireland. The company has said it will add 250 jobs there over two years. Its Dublin office sits in the Tropical Fruit Warehouse, a building of about 88,000 square feet.

Dugan calls EMEA a market that shapes the format

Dave Dugan, vice-president of global ads solutions at OpenAI, said EMEA “will play an important role in shaping what comes next”. Bambury’s brief covers advertisers, agencies and the ad formats that sit inside a chat window.

The open question is how far down the market OpenAI is willing to go. Ads run in 31 European markets, yet the self-serve Ads Manager is still a beta with a guest list. The size of that list, after the next round of market openings, is the first thing Bambury will be judged on.