Oyster Announces New CEO to Scale AI-Enabled Global Employment, Impact in Emerging Markets

Remote-First Company/SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oyster®, the global employment solution to employ, pay, and care for distributed teams, today announced the appointment of Hadi Moussa as Chief Executive Officer. Moussa succeeds founder and CEO Tony Jamous, who will move into the new role of Executive Chairman with a focus on long-term vision and strategy. This founder-led transition will accelerate Oyster's growth and its mission to scale global employment equality. It will also strengthen the company’s ability to support customers as they navigate AI-driven workforce transformation and expand global teams with confidence.

Oyster was built on a simple, powerful idea: that talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not. Under Jamous’ leadership since he founded the company in 2019 with a mission to create a more equal world of work, Oyster raised nearly $300 million from world-class investors, and earned the distinction of being the only B Corp-certified company in its category—a recognition of its commitment to the highest standards of governance, transparency, equity, and positive social impact. The company has delivered hundreds of millions of dollars in talent salaries and taxes to emerging economies, and more than doubled its share of Team Members in these regions. Today, 47% of Team Members hired through Oyster operate in emerging countries, including the Philippines, India, South Africa, Brazil, Colombia, Serbia, and Ukraine.

In his new role as Executive Chairman, Jamous will remain deeply involved in Oyster’s strategic direction and advocacy for the company's mission. His work will center on realizing Oyster's vision: becoming the world's most impactful work-tech company by restoring possibility, dignity, and freedom to people worldwide—enabling them to build meaningful careers in the places they call home.

Strong Foundation, Shared Mission Positions Oyster for Scale

“This transition comes from a place of strength and intention. Over the past five years, we’ve built a resilient, mission-driven organization—one that proves global employment can be equitable, compliant, scalable, and deeply impactful,” said Tony Jamous, Oyster’s new Executive Chairman. “We’re now in an era where AI will redefine opportunity, and our mission becomes even more essential: to ensure that this transformation lifts talent everywhere. Hadi brings the operational excellence and global leadership Oyster needs for this next chapter. I look forward to working together in my new role, with a focus on our long-term vision, mission stewardship, and ensuring Oyster remains the global benchmark for ethical, human-centered employment.”

Moussa joins Oyster from Coople, where he served as CEO. Previously, he held senior leadership roles at Coursera, where he led both enterprise and global consumer businesses and pioneered AI-enabled learning experiences. Before that, he served as Chief Business Officer at Deliveroo, managing international markets through rapid growth and IPO. Earlier in his career, Moussa held leadership positions at Airbnb, where he managed operations across the Middle East, Africa, and Europe, and at Facebook, where he worked on growth strategy and platform expansion. Moussa holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and began his career as data analyst at Capital One before becoming a consultant at McKinsey & Co. Like Jamous, Moussa also emigrated from Lebanon, sharing a personal connection to Oyster’s mission and a deep understanding of the economical and social challenges related to brain drain.

“Having left my home country to build my career abroad, I know first-hand how uneven access to opportunity can be. That’s why joining Oyster is so compelling to me: we’re not only enabling companies to hire the best talent wherever they live, we’re also driving tangible economic impact in markets that have historically been overlooked,” said Hadi Moussa, Oyster’s new CEO. “As CEO, my focus will be to scale both our business and our mission, deepening the value we deliver to customers, sharpening our differentiated, AI-enabled platform, and making Oyster the most trusted partner for global hiring. I will continue to listen closely to our customers, understand their evolving needs as AI reshapes work, and ensure Oyster remains the easiest and most reliable way to build global teams. The opportunity ahead is significant, and I’m excited to work with Tony and the team to seize it.”

The Board shares this conviction and sees this as a pivotal moment for the company. “The rise of AI presents a generational opportunity to democratize access to opportunity across the globe, and Oyster sits at the center of that shift. The platform enables companies to tap into global talent while ensuring that the benefits of AI-powered work reach emerging markets, not just established hubs,” said Leah Belsky, Oyster Board member and VP at OpenAI. “This founder-led transition positions Oyster to scale with clarity, strength, and deep alignment to its mission. We are thankful for Tony’s exceptional leadership and continued commitment to Oyster, and welcome Hadi as he leads the company’s next chapter of growth.”

About Oyster

Oyster is a global employment platform that helps companies hire the best people anywhere and treat them right everywhere. As the only B Corp-certified Employer of Record, we give companies both modern technology and in-house expert support so they can navigate international hiring with confidence, clarity, and speed. Learn more at oysterhr.com.