OpenAI loses second exec in a week as CRO Denise Dresser exits

Denise Dresser, who joined OpenAI as chief revenue officer in December after serving as CEO of Slack, announced she will leave in the "coming weeks" to "pursue other opportunities." The announcement came via a team note posted to LinkedIn. Dali Rajic, president and COO of cybersecurity firm Wiz, will assume the CRO role. Dresser's exit is the second major departure this week; on Monday, Brad Lightcap, special projects lead and former COO, announced he was also leaving. Dresser had taken over some of Lightcap's responsibilities when he moved to the special projects role. This wave of departures also includes Fidji Simo, who previously led OpenAI's AGI work but stepped down due to illness, and former chief marketing officer Kate Rouch.

The leadership shakeup comes as OpenAI prepares for a potential IPO. The company submitted a confidential S-1 filing to the SEC in June. In a statement, OpenAI said it's at an "inflection point" and that Rajic will "build the revenue operating system needed to scale for this next phase." The string of exits — including top commercial and research executives — raises questions about stability as OpenAI transitions from a research lab to a commercial powerhouse. With competitors like Anthropic and Google ramping up, retaining revenue leadership is critical. Dresser's short tenure of roughly eight months highlights the pressure at the executive level. Her departure follows the earlier loss of CMO Kate Rouch and AGI lead Fidji Simo, making this one of OpenAI's most significant leadership transitions to date.