EPAM joins OpenAI’s Partner Network as Advanced Partner, backed by $150M investment program

OpenAI is putting serious money behind its enterprise ambitions. The company launched its Partner Network on June 14, 2026, backed by a $150 million investment, and EPAM Systems has landed an Advanced Partner designation within the program. The Partner Network operates on a three-tier structure: Select, Advanced, and Elite, with partners earning their ranking based on sales performance, technical capability, and actual deployment experience. For EPAM, a company with over 30 years of engineering expertise, the designation positions it to transition clients from preliminary AI projects to full-scale production. The company has already deployed more than 20 AI agents into production across financial services, healthcare, retail, and telecom, all in less than three months. EPAM’s focus areas within the partnership center on legacy modernization and cybersecurity. For context, consulting firm Sia achieved the same Advanced Partner status on July 24, 2026. The program’s ambitions are significant: OpenAI aims to train 300,000 certified consultants by the end of 2026. The $150 million backing the program signals that OpenAI views enterprise adoption through the lens of its Global 2000 targ...