GoKawiilA handful of OpenAI executives are transitioning into new roles, according to a report from Bloomberg. An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed the personnel changes to TechCrunch.
CEO of AGI development Fidji Simo announced in a memo that Brad Lightcap, OpenAI’s COO, has a new job leading “special projects,” which will involve “complex deals and investments across the company.” He will report directly to CEO Sam Altman.
Denise Dresser, the former Slack CEO who recently joined OpenAI as Chief Revenue Officer, will take over some of Lightcap’s COO duties in the interim.
NEW: OpenAI’s Fidji Simo announced exec changes to staff today: she is taking medical leave for several weeks, COO Brad Lightcap is transitioning to a new role, and CMO Kate Rouch is stepping down to focus on her cancer recovery.
More here: https://t.co/EfAqZI7jN3 pic.twitter.com/KmWoXUG0Iu — Shirin Ghaffary (@shiringhaffary) April 3, 2026
Simo also had news of her own to share: She will be taking medical leave for the next several weeks to navigate a neuroimmune condition.
“I have done everything possible to avoid it, but sadly my body isn’t cooperating,” Simo wrote in the memo obtained by Bloomberg.
“The timing is maddening because we have such an exciting roadmap ahead that the team is executing on, and I hate to miss even a minute of it,” she said.
While she is on leave, OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman will manage product.
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