OpenAI chief revenue officer Denise Dresser departs after nine months

Aug 13, 2026

OpenAI Chief Revenue Officer Denise Dresser is departing after less than a year, marking the second major executive exit in days following COO Brad Lightcap's resignation. OpenAI has hired Dali Rajic, former president of Wiz, to succeed Dresser. The leadership shake-up comes at a critical juncture as OpenAI, valued at $852 billion, prepares for a potential IPO and races against rival Anthropic to expand its enterprise business, aiming to secure half of its revenue from corporate clients by the end of 2026.

Dresser departure as CRO

▪OpenAI announced on August 13, 2026, that Chief Revenue Officer Denise Dresser is leaving her role after less than a year at the company.
▪Denise Dresser stated on LinkedIn that she made the decision to leave OpenAI to pursue other opportunities and will remain for a brief transition period.

Rajic appointment from Wiz

▪OpenAI hired Dali Rajic, the former president and chief operating officer of cloud security firm Wiz, to succeed Denise Dresser as Chief Revenue Officer.
▪Dali Rajic previously served as an executive at Zscaler and AppDynamics before his tenure at Wiz, which was acquired by Google parent Alphabet Inc. for $32 billion.

OpenAI executive turnover wave

▪Fidji Simo stepped down from her role as OpenAI's product and business chief in July 2026 due to health reasons, transitioning to an advisory role.
▪OpenAI lost safety systems head Johannes Heidecke and chief futurist Joshua Achiam in July 2026, following the departure of three other executives in April 2026.
▪OpenAI Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap announced his departure on August 11, 2026, after eight years at the company.

IPO preparation timeline

▪OpenAI filed its initial public offering prospectus confidentially with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June 2026, alongside rival Anthropic.
▪OpenAI purchased $7 billion worth of employee shares in a tender offer during August 2026, which may suggest a potential delay in its public market debut.

Enterprise customer growth

▪OpenAI has reached 2 million business customers, doubling its enterprise customer count from August 2025.
▪OpenAI aims to generate 50% of its total revenue from enterprise customers by the end of 2026, up from approximately 40% in January 2026.

Revenue organization challenges

▪OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has focused the company on enterprise deployment in 2026, cutting back on experimental technology projects to prioritize measurable business impact.
▪OpenAI executives have privately and publicly suggested that the company has not met all of its revenue goals despite reaching one billion weekly active users.