Zeta Global (ZETA) Stock Gains 7% on OpenAI Partnership for AI Marketing Platform

TLDR

• Zeta Global stock jumped 7% in after-hours trading following announcement of OpenAI partnership
• OpenAI models will power Athena by Zeta, the company’s AI marketing agent for enterprise clients
• Beta access expanded for Athena’s first two applications: Insights for analytics and Advisor for campaign optimization
• Partnership gives Zeta potential early access to new OpenAI models and features
• Full customer rollout planned by end of Q1 2026 after strong early demand

Zeta Global Holdings Corp. shares climbed 7% in after-hours trading Monday. The move came after the company revealed a strategic partnership with OpenAI.

Zeta Global Holdings Corp., ZETA

The collaboration will integrate OpenAI’s technology into Zeta’s Athena platform. Athena is the company’s AI agent built for enterprise marketing teams.

David A. Steinberg, Zeta’s Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO, called the partnership the most important in the company’s history. The deal positions Zeta to tap into OpenAI’s latest model advances as they develop.

OpenAI Powers Conversational Intelligence

OpenAI’s models will drive the conversational intelligence behind Athena. The system transforms user questions into ready-to-use answers for marketing decisions.

The partnership allows Zeta to align Athena’s development with OpenAI’s model improvements. Zeta may also gain early access to new OpenAI features before wider release.

Giancarlo Lionetti, OpenAI’s Chief Commercial Officer, said the collaboration brings AI action into daily marketing workflows. The goal is helping enterprises move faster on decisions.

Zeta announced the partnership at CES 2026 in Las Vegas. The company also expanded beta access for Athena’s first two applications.

The Insights app delivers conversational analytics. Users can ask questions and receive instant trends, audience data, and dashboard views.

The Advisor app handles campaign optimization. It recommends marketing actions or executes them automatically based on business goals like revenue growth and customer retention.

Early Users Report Quick Results

TKO Group Holdings participated in Athena’s Early Access Program. The company owns UFC and WWE.

Deborah Cook, Vice President of Data Intelligence at TKO, said Athena changed how her team operates. Segment reports now generate from simple prompts in seconds.

Tasks that required manual work now happen instantly. These include comparing performance across segments and finding creative optimization opportunities.

Cook said TKO looks forward to using Athena for deeper geographic and performance insights. The company plans broader adoption across its business.

Zeta reported strong demand from brands and agencies for Athena access. The company responded by opening more beta slots.

First introduced at Zeta Live, Athena adapts to each user’s goals and work style. The system aims to reduce time spent navigating data.

Steinberg said AI is moving from marketing’s edges to its center. Athena turns the Zeta Marketing Platform into an intelligent operating system for growth.

The system can listen, reason, and act on behalf of marketing teams. The OpenAI partnership makes this approach easier to adopt and scale.

Zeta plans to roll out Athena to all customers by the end of Q1 2026.

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