Sam Altman to Corporate Leaders: Stop Overthinking AI—Models Are Ready for Prime Time

OpenAI's CEO throws down the gauntlet—enterprises clinging to 'wait-and-see' AI strategies risk getting lapped by competitors. The tech's no longer experimental; it's operational.

Mainstream or bust: After a decade of hype cycles, generative AI finally delivers ROI beyond VC pitch decks. (Though Wall Street will still find a way to monetize your FOMO.)

Deploy or decay: Altman's 'just do it' ethos cuts through analysis paralysis. The infrastructure's baked, the models scale—now it's about execution guts.

TLDR;

• Sam Altman encourages enterprises to adopt AI immediately, warning against waiting for future model improvements.
• AI models like ChatGPT are now mature enough for reliable production use in many business contexts.
• Rapid iteration and low-cost experimentation will separate winners from laggards in AI adoption.
• Future AI systems are expected to autonomously solve complex business problems, revolutionizing industries.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, is calling on enterprises to dive headfirst into artificial intelligence adoption. Speaking at the 2025 Snowflake Summit Tuesday, Altman emphasized that hesitation is the enemy of progress when it comes to AI, urging business leaders to MOVE quickly rather than wait for the perfect moment.

“There’s still a lot of hesitancy,” he noted, “and the models are changing so fast and there’s all this reason to wait for the next model… I think just do it.”

Notably, this marks a change from the cautious approach many large companies maintained only a year ago, when AI was often viewed as experimental or too unreliable for Core business functions. Now, with proven reliability and increasing sophistication, AI tools are becoming essential parts of daily operations across industries.

Sam Altman’s Call to Enterprise Leaders

One of the reasons Altman believes companies should move quickly is because rapid iteration is crucial in this fast-moving environment. He explained that organizations that learn fast and keep the cost of mistakes low will gain the most. This mindset is backed by OpenAI’s experience, as Altman pointed out, “the people that are making the early bets and iterating very quickly are doing much better than the people that are waiting to see how it’s all going to shake out.”

AI’s Growing Reliability

According to Altman, the technology’s ability to integrate into business processes has evolved dramatically. ChatGPT and related models now can access web search to provide up-to-date information, making them highly practical beyond just basic question answering. Altman described a future where AI can take on critical, complex business challenges, potentially solving problems that WOULD overwhelm human teams. He envisions a day when enterprises can throw massive computing power at their hardest issues and receive breakthrough solutions generated autonomously by AI.

A key component to this growing capability is the use of memory and retrieval systems. Altman highlighted their role in grounding AI responses with real-world facts and past interactions, ensuring outputs are not just imaginative but reliable. This progress brings AI closer to what many call Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), a milestone still subject to debate but marked by a system’s ability to autonomously generate new knowledge or solve non-trivial problems.

“AGI Matters Less Than Progress Itself”

Altman also reflected on the pace of AI advancement, comparing the state of AI today to five years ago when language models barely existed.

“If you could go back to that moment and show someone ChatGPT today… most people would say that’s AGI for sure.” He added.

Yet, he suggested that focusing on the exact definition of AGI misses the point. The continuous, smooth exponential growth of AI’s capabilities is the real story, with breakthroughs unfolding faster than many anticipated.

That said, the implications for enterprises are enormous. From coding assistants that can work independently to customer support agents automating complex workflows, AI is reshaping how businesses operate. Altman even shared his excitement over Codex, OpenAI’s coding agent, calling it one of his “feel the AGI moments” because of its ability to manage multiple tasks and improve productivity in a way reminiscent of a skilled junior engineer.