OpenAI names Denise Dresser chief revenue officer

Slack CEO Denise Dresser is out. She is joining OpenAI as chief revenue officer. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff confirmed the change in a memo to staff. Dresser starts her new gig next week and will report to COO Brad Lightcap.

At OpenAI, she will run the enterprise business. That group has been scaling fast as companies fold ChatGPT and agents into everyday work. Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s head of applications, says Dresser has led this kind of shift before and will help make AI tools usable at global scale.

Dresser spent 14 years at Slack and rose through Salesforce’s enterprise sales ranks before becoming CEO in 2023. She oversaw Slack’s push into AI features, including automated meeting summaries and deeper links to Salesforce’s agent stack.

Rob Seaman, Slack’s chief product officer, will step in as interim CEO.

What it means for OpenAI

OpenAI is moving from consumer novelty to enterprise infrastructure. That requires someone who knows how to sell to large organisations, manage complex deployments and turn enthusiasm into recurring revenue. Dresser fits that profile. Her arrival signals a more mature, structured commercial strategy as OpenAI competes directly with Microsoft, Google and Salesforce for workplace dominance.

It also sharpens OpenAI’s pitch to CIOs: the company wants to be the system that handles agent workflows, not just a chatbot. A seasoned operator helps translate that ambition into contracts.

What it means for Slack

Slack loses a leader who understood both product and enterprise sales at a time when collaboration tools are being reshaped by AI. Under Salesforce ownership, Slack’s independence has already narrowed. Rivals such as Microsoft Teams are absorbing generative AI at massive scale. Dresser’s exit adds uncertainty about Slack’s long-term direction and its ability to keep pace.

Slack will need clarity (fast) on whether it becomes a core AI interface inside Salesforce or continues trying to compete as a standalone workplace hub.

The bottom line

OpenAI gains enterprise muscle. Slack enters another leadership transition. And the battle over who owns the AI-powered workplace intensifies.

The Recap

• OpenAI names Denise Dresser chief revenue officer overseeing global strategy.
• 75% of workers say AI improved speed or quality.
• Dresser will help more businesses put AI to work.