Miami-based online boat sales platform Boats Group, the company behind Boat Trader, YachtWorld and boats.com, has appointed OpenAI executive Brandon McGraw as a non-executive director on its board.
McGraw is interim CMO, consumer & hardware marketing at OpenAI, where he leads commercial and brand strategy for the company’s consumer applications and hardware. He previously served as head of consumer marketing at Anthropic and co-founded Reflective Works, an AI-powered personal intelligence company, following senior product and marketing roles at DoorDash, Twitch, Meta and Google.
His appointment comes as Boats Group extends its use of AI across its boat marketplaces and tools for marine businesses. The company recently integrated YachtWorld and Boat Trader into ChatGPT, giving users a way to search for boats through conversation.
The news comes after a federal judge in Florida threw out an antitrust lawsuit against Boats Group in June 2026, ruling that the complaint did not sufficiently show unlawful anti-competitive behaviour.
The case, filed on 14 August 2025 by Brill Maritime Inc., which operates as Export Yacht Sales, argued that Boats Group had used a series of practices to build and protect a dominant position in the US market for online boat listings and marketing services.
In the ruling, US District Judge Roy K. Altman accepted Brill Maritime’s factual allegations for the purpose of considering the motion, but said the claims did not meet the legal threshold required for the case to move forward.
Boats Group looks to scale up
“Brandon has spent his career building transformative products and helping some of the world’s most influential technology companies navigate defining moments in their growth,” says Patrick Kolek, CEO of Boats Group, of the appointment. “His perspective will be incredibly valuable as we scale new capabilities across our global marketplaces and position Boats Group for its next chapter.”
Boats Group has also introduced “Listing Optimizer”, which draws on its proprietary marketplace data and insights into buyer behaviour to help sellers improve their listings’ performance. Another tool, the Market Evaluation Tool, combines data from active and sold listings to help businesses make pricing and inventory decisions.
“Boats Group is a category leader with a strong foundation, an ambitious team, and a clear appetite to keep evolving,” says McGraw. “What excites me is the opportunity to help shape what comes next for a company with global scale, unique data, and an important role in the marine industry. I’m thrilled to join the board and support Pat and the team through this next phase of innovation and growth.”
Jacob Aqraou, chairman of the board of Boats Group, adds: “Brandon’s appointment reflects the board’s commitment to ensuring Boats Group has the experience and perspective needed for its next stage of growth. His understanding of how technology is developed, brought to market, and adopted at scale will be a valuable addition as the company continues to evolve.”
Alongside its online marketplaces, Boats Group offers data-driven marketing services, AI tools, financing services and industry insights for boat manufacturers, dealers and brokers.
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