Fidji Simo steps down from OpenAI’s no. 2 role

What actually happened at OpenAI?

Fidji Simo, hired in May 2025 as OpenAI's CEO of Applications and effectively Sam Altman's number two, stepped down from the full time role on 9 July 2026. A chronic illness, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, worsened during a three month medical leave, and she moved into a part time advisory position instead.

Her responsibilities were split three ways: co-founder and president Greg Brockman took over product strategy, while CFO Sarah Friar and chief strategy officer Jason Kwon absorbed the rest. It wasn't an isolated move either. Revenue chief Denise Dresser and long serving COO Brad Lightcap have since departed too, with Dali Rajic named chief revenue officer. On 11 September 2026, Simo joined the board of Nscale, a UK based AI data centre startup preparing a US IPO, alongside Sheryl Sandberg and Nick Clegg.

Why should a UK small business owner care about an OpenAI executive reshuffle?

Because it's a reminder that the tools reshaping how customers find you are run by organisations still figuring themselves out. ChatGPT and similar tools sit on top of a company with genuine leadership instability, and that instability can affect product direction, release pace, and how these tools recommend or don't recommend local businesses.

This matters more than it sounds. AI assistants are quietly becoming a discovery channel: when someone asks ChatGPT or Google's AI Overviews to recommend a plumber, salon or restaurant nearby, the answer comes from whatever data the model can find and trust about you. If your only online presence is a Facebook page or a Linktree, there's very little for these tools to work with.

How many UK small businesses are actually using AI tools like this?

Not many, and that's the real story. As of June 2026, 29% of UK businesses use at least one AI technology, but that headline figure hides a sharp size gap: only 16% of businesses with 5 or more staff have adopted AI, compared with 49% of firms with 250+ employees.

Text generation tools such as ChatGPT are the most used category at 17% adoption, and marketing is the top use case, cited by 72% of small business adopters. The government's own AI Adoption Research found the main barrier isn't cost. It's skills: 60% of businesses say limited AI expertise, not budget, is what's holding them back.

What's the actual mistake most local businesses are making here?

Waiting for AI search to "arrive" before doing the basic groundwork that makes a business visible to it. AI assistants pull from the same signals as traditional search: a verified Google Business Profile, a real website with clear service pages, consistent contact details, and reviews.

We saw this directly with a salon in Leeds that had zero online presence. Once we verified and properly optimised its Google Business Profile, it was getting 40+ calls a month from Google Maps within three weeks. No AI strategy was needed, just the fundamentals done properly, which is exactly what feeds both traditional and AI powered search.

What should I actually do about this, practically, this week?

Don't wait for AI tools to stabilise. Build the foundations that make you findable by any search system, human or AI, starting now.

• Claim and verify your Google Business Profile. This is still the single highest impact, lowest cost action available to a local business.
• Own a real website, not just a social page. A Manchester restaurant we worked with saw online orders rise 34% within four weeks simply by replacing a PDF menu with a live web menu that search engines and AI tools could actually read.
• Keep your business information consistent everywhere. Name, address, phone number and opening hours should match exactly across your website, Google profile and any directories.
• Collect and respond to reviews. Both Google's algorithm and AI assistants weight recency and volume of reviews when deciding who to recommend.

Is it risky to rely on rented platforms like Fresha, Booksy or Linktree instead?

Yes, and this OpenAI shakeup is a useful analogy for why. When a business sits on top of a platform it doesn't control, whether that's a booking app taking a cut of every appointment or an AI company reorganising its leadership overnight, the business has no say in what happens next.

A nail salon we worked with was paying Fresha around £1,800 a month in commission. Moving to its own booking system, at roughly £35 a month, saved it approximately £21,000 a year, and it now owns its customer data outright rather than renting access to it.

Braynex Services' view

We think the Simo departure is a small but telling data point in a bigger pattern: the infrastructure behind AI discovery is still being built, tested and reorganised in real time. Businesses that own their website, their booking system and their customer data are positioned to benefit whichever way these tools evolve. Businesses that rely entirely on someone else's platform, whether that's a booking app or an AI assistant's goodwill, are exposed to decisions made in boardrooms they'll never see.

You don't need to understand OpenAI's org chart to benefit from AI powered discovery. You need a Google Business Profile that's actually optimised, a website that loads properly and describes what you do in plain language, and systems you own rather than rent. Get those right and you're visible to Google, to ChatGPT, and to whoever runs search next.

If you're not sure where your business stands on any of this, Braynex Services offers a free audit at braynexservices.com. We'll look at your Google presence, your website and your booking setup, and tell you plainly what's costing you customers.