Openai Executive Shuffle Includes New Role For Coo Brad Lightcap To Lead ‘special Projects’

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1:35 PM PDT · April 3, 2026

A fistful of OpenAI executives are transitioning into caller roles, according to a study from Bloomberg. An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed nan unit changes to TechCrunch.

CEO of AGI improvement Fidji Simo announced successful a memo that Brad Lightcap, OpenAI’s COO, has a caller occupation starring “special projects,” which will impact “complex deals and investments crossed nan company.” He will study straight to CEO Sam Altman.

Denise Dresser, nan erstwhile Slack CEO who recently joined OpenAI arsenic Chief Revenue Officer, will return complete immoderate of Lightcap’s COO duties successful nan interim.

NEW: OpenAI’s Fidji Simo announced exec changes to unit today: she is taking aesculapian time off for respective weeks, COO Brad Lightcap is transitioning to a caller role, and CMO Kate Rouch is stepping down to attraction connected her crab recovery.

More here: https://t.co/EfAqZI7jN3 pic.twitter.com/KmWoXUG0Iu

— Shirin Ghaffary (@shiringhaffary) April 3, 2026

Simo besides had news of her ain to share: She will beryllium taking aesculapian time off for nan adjacent respective weeks to navigate a neuroimmune condition.

“I person done everything imaginable to debar it, but sadly my assemblage isn’t cooperating,” Simo wrote successful nan memo obtained by Bloomberg.

“The timing is maddening because we person specified an breathtaking roadmap up that nan squad is executing on, and I dislike to miss moreover a infinitesimal of it,” she said.

Thile she is connected leave, OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman will negociate product.

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Kate Rouch, OpenAI’s trading head, will besides beryllium stepping down from her domiciled to attraction connected crab recovery, but will return to a “different, much narrowly scoped domiciled erstwhile her wellness allows,” nan memo said. The institution plans to hunt for a caller CMO.

“We person a beardown activity squad focused connected our biggest priorities: advancing frontier research, increasing our world personification guidelines of astir 1 cardinal users, and powering endeavor usage cases,” OpenAI told TechCrunch successful a statement. “We’re well-positioned to support executing pinch continuity and momentum.”

Amanda Silberling is simply a elder writer astatine TechCrunch covering nan intersection of exertion and culture. She has besides written for publications for illustration Polygon, MTV, nan Kenyon Review, NPR, and Business Insider. She is nan co-host of Wow If True, a podcast astir net culture, pinch subject fabrication writer Isabel J. Kim. Prior to joining TechCrunch, she worked arsenic a grassroots organizer, depository educator, and movie show coordinator. She holds a B.A. successful English from nan University of Pennsylvania and served arsenic a Princeton successful Asia Fellow successful Laos.

You tin interaction aliases verify outreach from Amanda by emailing amanda@techcrunch.com or via encrypted connection astatine @amanda.100 connected Signal.

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