Denise Dresser
Denise Dresser is an American technology executive who served as Chief Revenue Officer of OpenAI from December 2025 until announcing her departure in August 2026. She previously served as CEO of Slack and spent more than a decade at Salesforce in enterprise sales and other leadership positions. [5] [6] [7]
Dresser joined OpenAI as the company expanded its enterprise business and was responsible for its global revenue strategy across enterprise sales and customer success.[6] During her tenure, OpenAI said she built its revenue team, strengthened relationships with major customers, and established the commercial foundation supporting the company's enterprise growth. [5] She announced in August 2026 that she would leave OpenAI after about eight months in the role to pursue other opportunities. [1] [2] [4] [5] [7]
Education
Dresser attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst's Isenberg School of Management, where she earned a bachelor's degree in accounting and business/management. [3]
Early Career
Before joining Salesforce, Dresser worked at Arthur Andersen, Hyperion Solutions, and Oracle. At Oracle, she served as a regional manager focused on enterprise performance management. [3]
Dresser joined Salesforce in 2011 as a regional vice president in the company's enterprise business unit. Over the following years, she held a series of senior sales and leadership positions, including Executive Vice President of Enterprise Sales and Strategic Accounts. [3]
In 2023, she became President of Accelerated Industries at Salesforce, with responsibility for go-to-market and distribution strategy across major customers and industry-focused cloud products. [3]
Slack
Dresser was appointed CEO of Slack in November 2023, succeeding Lidiane Jones. The appointment followed approximately 12 years at Salesforce. [3] [8]
As CEO, Dresser led Slack while the workplace communications platform was being more closely integrated into Salesforce. OpenAI later described her work at Slack as including the company's integration with Salesforce and efforts to change how employees use artificial intelligence in their work.
Her tenure coincided with Slack's increased focus on AI-powered workplace tools and the incorporation of artificial intelligence into communication and productivity workflows.
Dresser left Slack in December 2025 to join OpenAI. At the time of her departure, Salesforce said she had spent approximately 14 years with the company, including her period leading Slack. [6]
OpenAI
Appointment as Chief Revenue Officer
OpenAI announced Dresser's appointment as Chief Revenue Officer on December 9, 2025. She was given responsibility for the company's global revenue strategy, including its enterprise organization and customer-success functions.
The appointment came as OpenAI was seeking to expand the use of its AI products within businesses and move organizations beyond limited pilots toward broader deployments. At the time, OpenAI said more than one million business customers used its technology, naming Walmart, Morgan Stanley, Intuit, Databricks, Target, and Lowe's among its customers.
Dresser said at the time that she had spent her career helping scale technology platforms and planned to apply that experience to OpenAI's next phase of enterprise expansion.
OpenAI's CEO of Applications, Fidji Simo, said Dresser's experience with enterprise technology adoption was expected to support the company's efforts to expand AI use across industries. [6]
Commercial Organization
Dresser's role centered on turning demand for OpenAI's products into a larger enterprise business. Her responsibilities included leading the revenue organization, developing relationships with large customers, and supporting adoption of OpenAI products by businesses. [2] [5] [7]
Her responsibilities expanded during a period of leadership changes at OpenAI. By 2026, Dresser had taken on some operational responsibilities previously handled by Brad Lightcap after he moved from the chief operating officer role to work on special projects. [2] [4]
By August 2026, OpenAI reported that its products reached more than one billion weekly active users and more than two million businesses, twice as many business customers as a year earlier. In announcing Dresser's departure, OpenAI credited her with helping build the team and commercial infrastructure that supported that growth. [5]
Departure from OpenAI
On August 13, 2026, Dresser announced that she had decided to leave OpenAI in the coming weeks to pursue other opportunities. Her departure came approximately eight months after she joined the company in December 2025. [1] [2]
Dresser did not announce a new employer or position when disclosing her departure. OpenAI said she would remain with the company during a transition period and work with its business team to support customers before leaving. [5] [7]
In a message shared with employees, Dresser described the decision to leave as difficult and thanked OpenAI's employees and customers. She said she was proud of the organization's work during her tenure and would assist with the transition. [2] [3]
OpenAI President and co-founder Greg Brockman credited Dresser with leading the revenue organization during a formative period for the company and its enterprise business. [5] [7]
Her departure occurred during a broader series of changes in OpenAI's senior leadership. Brad Lightcap, who had previously served as chief operating officer before moving to a special-projects role, also announced his departure in August 2026. Fidji Simo had earlier stepped away from her full-time position for health reasons. [1] [2] [4] [7]
Succession
On August 13, 2026, OpenAI announced that Dali Rajic would succeed Dresser as Chief Revenue Officer and lead the company's global revenue organization.
Rajic previously served as President and Chief Operating Officer of cybersecurity company Wiz, which was acquired by Google. Before Wiz, he held senior positions at Zscaler and AppDynamics.
OpenAI said Rajic would focus on developing the revenue organization required for the company's next stage of enterprise growth. The company also announced a strategic partnership with Chad Peets and RPT Partners to support the development of its go-to-market organization.
Dresser was expected to work with the business team during the transition before formally leaving OpenAI. [5]
