Zoheb Hajiyani departs grocery technology firm Instacart and heads on over to OpenAI

Zoheb Hajiyani has left Instacart, where he held the role of Senior Director of Product Management, and joined OpenAI.

In a LinkedIn post, he said :”After an incredible five-year run at Instacart, I recently joined OpenAI to help shape the future of monetisation and business products alongside a small but very mighty team. Everyone has a slightly different view of where AI creates value for them. For me, it’s time.”

“Time is one of our most precious commodities. Conversational AI tools compress the time and activation energy required to learn, think, and create, while expanding time for everything else in our lives. That is something I’ve especially felt as a parent of a now two-year-old during a season of life where time would have otherwise felt even more fleeting.”

He added: “Monetisation and business products have the potential to expand access to these capabilities while creating new ways for people and businesses to connect more meaningfully. I’m incredibly excited for the opportunity to help shape this from the ground up with such an exceptional crew, and especially grateful to be building a business again with Fidji Simo (who left Instacart last year) for the third time.”

“At the same time, the last five years at Instacart have been nothing short of special - from building and scaling our ads business, to helping take the company public, to most importantly working alongside an incredible group of peers and now lifelong friends. I’m leaving with so much gratitude. Excited for what’s ahead.”

2026 RTIH Innovation Awards

AI will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.

Check out our 2025 winners here.

Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”

“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”

He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”

Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.