OpenAI replaces revenue lead as Greg Brockman builds his presence
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Denise Dresser. Photo: Betty Laura Zapata/Bloomberg via Getty Images
OpenAI chief revenue officer Denise Dresser is leaving the company less than a year into the role. OpenAI appointed Dali Rajic, most recently president and COO of Google-owned cybersecurity company Wiz, to replace her.
Why it matters: Dresser's departure comes as co-founder Greg Brockman consolidates more operating responsibility around himself while OpenAI grows its enterprise business to prepare to go public.
What they're saying: "I wanted to let you know that I made the difficult decision to leave OpenAI in the coming weeks to pursue other opportunities," Dresser wrote on LinkedIn.
- Dresser, formerly the CEO of Slack, will stay at the company for a few weeks as part of a transition period.
- Dresser had been tasked with filling in for both Brad Lightcap and Fidji Simo when OpenAI moved Lightcap out of the COO role and Simo took medical leave.
- Simo left last month. Lightcap left this week.
Between the lines: The shift comes as OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman is taking on a bigger role in driving the next growth phase at the firm, according to a source familiar.
- Brockman has been building up his own team of leaders around him.
- Dresser helped the company catch up to the competition. Rajic is being brought in to turbocharge that growth.
Also new: Brockman is elevating Joy Jiao as Head of Life Sciences.
- She'll be focused on research and has been at the company since 2022.
By the numbers: OpenAI is continuing to focus on enterprise adoption as a key business diver, critical as they head towards IPO
- OpenAI's annualized revenue from business customers jumped 32% in July from the previous month, driven largely by big enterprises, first reported by DealBook.
- OpenAI expects enterprise customers to account for 50% of its total revenue by year's end.
The intrigue: OpenAI had centered Dresser as a key figurehead in recent months for events and media opportunities.
- She was the main presenter for the company's recent event about enterprise AI adoption, where she interviewed CEO Sam Altman on stage.
- She frequently spoke with reporters about enterprise use of OpenAI tools.
The bottom line: Brockman is building out an operating regime he hopes will catapult OpenAI to number one in enterprise AI adoption ahead of rival Anthropic.
This story is developing.
