OpenAI sees another exit as revenue chief Denise Dresser leaves after just 8 months

OpenAI has just lost another top executive as its chief revenue officer Denise Dresser has announced her exit just months after joining the startup. In her place, OpenAI has brought in Dali Rajic who was previously the president of Wiz, owned by Google.OpenAI's chief revenue officer Denise Dresser is leaving. (Photo: OpenAI/LinkedIn)OpenAI has just witnessed another high-profile exit. The startup’s chief operating officer Denise Dresser is stepping down after just 8 months. OpenAI has announced Dali Rajic as Dresser’s successor. Rajic previously served as the president of Wiz, a cybersecurity company owned by Google.Denise Dresser shared the memo she sent to OpenAI employees in a LinkedIn post. She wrote, “I wanted to let you know that I made the difficult decision to leave OpenAI in the coming weeks to pursue other opportunities.”Denise Dresser’s exit comes at a time when OpenAI has lost some key senior staff. Former COO Brad Lightcap, who was seen as Sam Altman’s right-hand man, left the startup just days ago. At the same time, OpenAI is preparing to go public with an IPO soon, potentially crossing a trillion-dollar valuation before the end of this year. The startup is currently valued at $852 billion.Denise Dresser calls OpenAI stint incredibleIn the post, Dresser looked back at her stint at OpenAI. “The opportunity to work hands-on with the most transformative technology in the world has been nothing short of incredible,” she wrote. She added that she was proud of what the team had accomplished and of how it had shown up for customers and one another. Denise Dresser said she had been working with OpenAI president Greg Brockman to ensure a smooth transition and would remain for a brief period to continue supporting the team and customers. She will stay on during a transition period and work closely with the business team to support customers. Denise Dresser announced her exit on LinkedIn. Dresser joined OpenAI in December after spending more than a decade at Salesforce. In April, she was also tapped to take over many of Brad Lightcap’s responsibilities after he moved to a role focused on special projects. Her appointment had been seen as important for OpenAI’s push to build its enterprise business at a time of fierce competition for corporate customers. As per a report from Bloomberg, OpenAI is set to hit annualized revenue of more than $40 billion this year, roughly doubling the revenue run rate from 2025. This is likely linked to the company’s efforts towards enterprise products such as Codex and ChatGPT Work.Who is replacing Denise Dresser?Announcing Rajic’s appointment, Greg Brockman said that Denise Dresser had led OpenAI’s revenue organisation through a formative period and had helped build the commercial foundation of the business.Brockman added that the company was now at an inflection point and that Rajic would build the revenue operating system needed for the next phase. “The way we’re deploying this technology is changing rapidly, and Dali will turn what we’ve learned into repeatable execution as we build out the full system to make AI broadly useful for people and businesses,” he said.Rajic most recently worked at Wiz which was recently acquired by Google, and has also held senior roles at Zscaler and AppDynamics.OpenAI says that its products now reach more than one billion weekly active users and more than two million businesses, twice as many as a year ago.In an internal note, Greg Brockman told employees that the company’s annual revenue run rate increased by more than 20 per cent month on month in July, with 32 per cent growth for business customers.In January, chief financial officer Sarah Friar had said enterprise customers accounted for about 40 per cent of OpenAI’s business and could reach closer to 50 per cent by year-end.Alongside Dresser’s exit, OpenAI has seen a string of senior departures. Last month, CEO of Applications Fidji Simo transitioned to the role of a part-time advisor, citing health reasons. while Kevin Weil and three other executives left in April. More recently, researcher Naomi Bashkansky and AI ethics lead Chloe Bakalar have also left the startup.- EndsPublished By: Armaan AgarwalPublished On: Aug 14, 2026 08:27 IST