Instacart CEO Fidji Simo to Depart
Just a few days after highlighting the company’s first quarter results, Instacart is making another big move in the digital space. CEO and Chair Fidji Simo shared that she is exiting her chief executive role to take on a new position as CEO of OpenAI Applications. In a May 7 letter to employees, she explained that her departure is not immediate, and that she is working with the board of directors to ensure a smooth transition once her successor is named.
“Let me start by saying this was an incredibly hard decision because I love this company. We are operating incredibly well as our last earnings results have shown. Our strategy is working and this team is top notch, which makes it very hard to leave,” she wrote. “At the same time, you all know my passion for AI generally and in particular for the potential it has to cure diseases — the ability to lead such an important part of our collective future was a hard opportunity to pass up. I only feel comfortable doing this because Instacart is on an excellent track and in great hands with a stellar management team.”
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Simo was also candid that the company and she decided to make the announcement after learning that what had been a private plan was about to be disclosed to the public. “I also want to apologize for how unexpected this may feel. This is not how I planned for you all to hear this news, but a media leak unfortunately expedited the timeline by several weeks,” she noted.
In a statement, the Instacart organization noted that the board has regularly engaged in succession planning and intends to pick a CEO soon from its deep bench of senior executives.
“Today’s announcement is not a reflection of any changes in our business or operations. We’re off to a strong start in 2025 as we continue to execute on our vision of building the technologies that power the future of grocery for our partners,” the company declared.
On that point about financial strength, the May 1 quarterly report showed a 14% year-over-year (YoY) jump in orders and a net income of $106 million for the opening period of fiscal 2025. Looking ahead, Instacart expects second quarter gross transaction value (GTV) to grow between 8% and 10%.
Simo’s new employer, OpenAI, is going through some changes of its own. Co-founder and current CEO Sam Altman reported this week that its nonprofit arm will continue to control the company, based on discussions with Attorneys General in California and Delaware. At the same time, its for-profit unit will transition to a public benefit corporation. “OpenAI is not a normal company and never will be. Our mission is to ensure that artificial general intelligence (AGI) benefits all of humanity,” Altman wrote in a message to employees.
Altman also confirmed Simo’s hiring as CEO of applications. “I remain the CEO of OpenAI and will continue to directly oversee success across all pillars of OpenAI – Research, Compute, and Applications – ensuring we stay aligned and integrated across all areas,” he said. “Applications brings together a group of existing business and operational teams responsible for how our research reaches and benefits the world, and Fidji is uniquely qualified to lead this group. Serving as an OpenAI board member over the past year, Fidji has already contributed a great deal to our company.”
