Why OpenAI Chooses Slack CEO to Lead Global Revenue Strategy

OpenAI has named Denise Holland Dresser, the CEO of Slack, as its new Chief Revenue Officer.

In her new position, she is responsible for guiding OpenAI’s global revenue strategy, covering both enterprise and customer success initiatives.

The move could signal a reinforced effort by OpenAI to embed its AI technologies within daily business operations on a larger scale.

Denise’s appointment follows a tenure as CEO at Slack, which began in 2023.

Before leading Slack, she worked for over ten years at Salesforce, which acquired Slack in a deal valued at over US$27bn in 2020.

“I’ve spent my career helping scale category-defining platforms, and I’m looking forward to bringing that experience to OpenAI as it enters its next phase of enterprise transformation,” she says.

In a post on LinkedIn, she adds: “I’m truly looking forward to working with Sam Altman, Fidji Simo, Brad Lightcap, Sarah Friar and the entire OpenAI team.”

Advancing enterprise AI transformation

The selection of Denise for the role points to her background in managing large-scale business operations and her understanding of enterprise customer needs.

During her time as CEO of Slack, she guided Slack through its integration with Salesforce and played a part in redefining how AI is used to enhance workplace efficiency and communication.

OpenAI states that her experience will be important in achieving its goals.

Fidji Simo, CEO of Applications at OpenAI, explains: “We’re on a path to put AI tools into the hands of millions of workers across every industry. Denise has led that kind of change before, and her experience will help us make AI useful, reliable and accessible for businesses everywhere.”

This suggests a clear focus on making OpenAI's tools a standard for businesses globally.

Expanding the leadership team

Denise’s hiring is part of a wider pattern of C-suite expansion at OpenAI throughout 2025.

This strategic growth included the creation of a CEO of Applications role in Spring 2025, filled by Fidji Simo, who now oversees OpenAI’s applications and business operations.

OpenAI described this as a move to improve execution, allowing Sam Altman, the overall CEO, to concentrate more on research, compute and safety.

“Applications brings together a group of existing business and operational teams responsible for how our research reaches and benefits the world, and Fidji is uniquely qualified to lead this group,” Sam shares in a note to employees.

Further changes include Mark Chen taking on an expanded position as Chief Research Officer.

His focus is on advancing scientific progress and ensuring OpenAI's work in capability and safety continues to develop.

At the same time, Brad Lightcap, Chief Operating Officer, broadened his role to manage OpenAI’s day-to-day operations and lead global deployment with a focus on business strategy.

Meeting business demand for AI

The timing of Denise's appointment coincides with a period of fast AI integration within the corporate world.

As AI becomes more common in the workplace, companies are looking for ways to use the software to their advantage.

According to OpenAI, 75% of workers report that AI has led to improvements in the speed or quality of their work.

OpenAI also notes that many users save between 40 and 60 minutes per day, with heavy users saving upwards of 10 hours a week.

More than one million business customers, including Walmart, Morgan Stanley, Intuit, Databricks and Target, currently use OpenAI for their internal operations.

These executive appointments appear to be a strategic move to position OpenAI to compete with other major players in the AI field, such as Google, Nvidia, Meta and Anthropic, solidifying its efforts to become a primary provider of AI solutions for the global business community.