OpenAI Denise Dresser leaving is the company’s second executive-departure announcement in two days. OpenAI said on August 13 that Dresser, its chief revenue officer, will leave after a transition period to pursue other opportunities. The company also named Dali Rajic, then president and chief operating officer of Wiz, as the incoming CRO.
Dresser will remain involved during the handoff, working with OpenAI’s business team to support customers, according to the company’s announcement. OpenAI did not give a final departure date. The Verge reported that Dresser had said she expected to leave in the coming weeks.
Rajic is set to lead OpenAI’s global revenue organization, OpenAI said. The company described him as most recently Wiz’s president and COO, and said he previously held senior operating and revenue roles at Zscaler and AppDynamics. OpenAI said Rajic would build what it called a “revenue operating system” for the company’s next phase of scaling. That is OpenAI’s description of the assignment, not an independently verified business plan.
Who is replacing Denise Dresser as OpenAI’s chief revenue officer?
OpenAI has selected Rajic as Dresser’s successor. His appointment and Dresser’s planned transition were announced together on August 13, meaning OpenAI has identified a replacement before Dresser’s departure takes effect.
Dresser joined OpenAI in December after serving as chief executive of Slack, The Verge reported. OpenAI credited her with building its revenue team and strengthening relationships with major customers during her tenure. Those assessments come from the company’s own announcement.
Why is Dresser the second OpenAI executive leaving that week?
Brad Lightcap, OpenAI’s former COO and then special-projects lead, announced his own departure two days before Dresser’s announcement, according to The Verge. The outlet reported that Dresser had assumed some of Lightcap’s responsibilities after he moved into the special-projects position.
The two announcements add to a broader set of leadership changes reported this year, though the available reporting does not establish a shared reason. CNBC reported in April that Kevin Weil, vice president of OpenAI for Science; Bill Peebles, who led the now-defunct short-form video app Sora; and Srinivas Narayanan, CTO of B2B Applications, had announced departures. CNBC also reported that product and business chief Fidji Simo had taken medical leave and that marketing chief Kate Rouch had stepped down earlier that month.
Separately, The Verge reported that OpenAI said in June it had submitted a confidential S-1 filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Neither OpenAI nor the reports cited here connect that filing to Dresser’s planned departure or to the other executive moves.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.
