Oyster appoints new CEO as unicorn looks to enter the next phase of growth

Global employment platform Oyster announced Tuesday founder and CEO Tony Jamous would transition into an executive chairman position. The company also announced Hadi Moussa as its incoming chief executive, effective today.

“I started this business in late 2019 to reduce inequality [and] reverse brain drain,” Jamous told HR Brew exclusively Monday, on his last day as CEO ahead of the transition. “My story—having to leave my home country in Lebanon when I was in my teenage years to the West to find a better economical opportunity—was at the center of why I started Oyster, so people like me don’t have to leave their home countries.”

In 2022, Oyster achieved unicorn status after its $150 million Series C earned the company a billion-dollar valuation. It has raised a total of $288.2 million, from investors including ServiceNow Ventures and Georgian, among others.

The change in command comes as the platform looks to grow at scale amid rapid shifts in AI workflows and distributed work models all across the globe, and as companies look to diversify their global workforce in an increasingly connected world.

Oyster tapped Moussa, who has formerly worked in top posts at Airbnb, Deliveroo, and Coursera, to replace Jamous due to his experience and expertise scaling organizations, and, Jamous said, Moussa’s embodiment of the company’s mission. Moussa also previously served as CEO of Coople.

“The reason I joined, personally, is because the mission itself resonates so much,” Moussa said. “It’s very much related to my own personal experience.” Moussa, also a Lebanese national, left home in pursuit of bigger and better career opportunities.

But Moussa told HR Brew customers can expect “openness and transparency” from him amid the transition—he said his goal is for customers to be “true partners over time.”

“Think about the space that we operate in, if you look at many of the trends right now in terms of building more global, more distributed teams, the impact that AI is going to have on the work environment, on jobs…the need for AI expertise, and the need for companies to try and find that expertise across the whole world,” Moussa said. “I think the trends, some of these trends, would really provide tailwinds for us as a company, and they will also provide significant opportunities for us to deliver an exceptional experience to our customers as well.”

And along the way, Moussa sees Oyster as a trusted partner for customers when it comes to global, AI-powered distributed teams.

“How do we become truly the global employment partner for our customers, powered by AI, and being able to support our customers across different employment needs?” he said. “How can we hide the complexity of the process itself to our customers, so we take care and create a truly exceptional experience for them? I think at a high level, that’s where I see the opportunity for us right now.”

What can HR expect? Nothing is set to change at Oyster, the platform, or its operations, according to execs. Moussa told HR Brew he was interested in meeting with and better understanding customers’ needs and challenges. Long-term investments and roadmapping will come after Moussa has a better grip on challenges and needs for its customers.

“They should expect a very customer-centric view, a roadmap [of] investments that are really driven by…the unique needs of our customers. That’s really the promise, and it starts by listening over the next few weeks [and] months, as I ramp up,” he said.

Moussa said Jamous’s new remit of nurturing existing client relationships, representing the organization publicly, and keeping the organization on track with its mission will help to ensure this CEO transition is successful.