OpenAI

OpenAI operates a hybrid founder-led structure balancing frontier research, applied products, and enterprise GTM.

Technology · Hybrid structure · 4K employees · San Francisco, CA

CEO span

↑ wider than peers (avg 6)

Avg span

tight

Max depth

3 levels

0 yr

Avg tenure

30%

Internal hires

↓ below industry avg

Interactive org chart

OpenAI organizational chart

Explore the leadership model, functional ownership, and scale-up reporting pattern behind this company.

Open editable chart

OpenAI is a leading AI research and deployment company developing frontier models and widely used consumer and enterprise AI products, including ChatGPT and APIs for developers and businesses worldwide.

What to model

Use the chart to test org decisions, not just view reporting lines

Start with the public baseline, then use the scenario views and source-backed changes to ask what happens when leadership, span, or team ownership shifts.

Latest signal Kevin Weil departed as Chief Product Officer

Exited OpenAI as the company consolidated around enterprise AI.

Source · See change log

Scenario views in the chart

Add Chief Operating Officer Introduce a COO to absorb cross-functional operations and reduce CEO span.
Separate Product and Engineering Create a dedicated Chief Product Officer to partner with engineering at scale.

Atlas work this supports

Compare scale-up operating models Benchmark founder span, product-engineering structure, GTM leadership, and platform teams against other high-growth companies.
Model your next leadership layer Plan when to add operators, split product and engineering, regionalize GTM, or create new platform and AI leadership roles.
Turn public signals into a planning map Use official leadership pages and announcements as a baseline, then adapt the model for your own hiring and scenario plans.

The people

Who's running this

9 public leadership roles from company pages, announcements, and reliable news signals. Use this as a current operating-model reference, not an SEC filing table.

Sam Altman

Chief Executive Officer

Executive

9 reports

Greg Brockman

President

Executive

0 reports

internal

Mark Chen

SVP of Research

Research

1 reports

Fidji Simo

CEO, AGI Development

Executive

0 reports

Vijaye Raji

CTO of Applications

Applications Engineering

0 reports

Josh Achiam

Head of Mission Alignment

Safety & Alignment

0 reports

internal

Matt Knight

Chief Information Security Officer

Security

0 reports

Brad Lightcap

Head of Special Projects

Strategy & Investments

0 reports

Denise Dresser

Chief Revenue Officer

Go-To-Market

0 reports

The businesses

How OpenAI divides the work

3 divisions report into the group CEO. Tile size scales with estimated headcount.

Research

1K employees

mark_chen

Frontier AI research, model training, and scientific discovery.

Applications Engineering & Product

2K employees

vijaye_raji

Productization, experimentation infrastructure, and deployment of AI models to consumers and enterprises.

Go-To-Market

600 employees

denise_dresser

Enterprise sales, partnerships, and revenue operations.

The thesis

Why this org is unusual

OpenAI maintains a hybrid, founder-led structure with Sam Altman retaining broad CEO span while delegating distinct authority to frontier research, applications engineering, and enterprise GTM leaders.

Research is bifurcated between an SVP of Research and a Chief Scientist, reflecting the scale and complexity of frontier model development. Applied product and engineering are in transition after 2026 executive exits, with Applications leadership strengthened by the Statsig acquisition and commercial ownership shifting toward a dedicated CRO. The presence of a dedicated mission alignment leader and elevated security function underscores OpenAI’s emphasis on safety and trust as it scales toward billion-user reach and enterprise adoption.

Dual research leadership model
Founder-led CEO with broad span
Dedicated mission alignment function

The comparison

How OpenAI stacks up

Compared with peers like Anthropic, xAI, and DeepMind, OpenAI shows a wider CEO span and more explicit separation between frontier research and applied commercialization. Unlike Anthropic’s tighter research-centric model, OpenAI invests heavily in GTM leadership similar to late-stage platforms such as Stripe or …

C-suite size

OpenAI

Anthropic

Reporting depth

OpenAI

3 levels

Anthropic

3 levels

Avg C-suite tenure

OpenAI

0 yr

Anthropic

3 yr

Has COO / Has CAIO

OpenAI — no COO — no CAIO

Anthropic — no COO — no CAIO

Current signals

What changed recently

OpenAI's 2025-2026 org shifted toward applications and enterprise GTM: Fidji Simo, Vijaye Raji, and Denise Dresser were added while Kevin Weil and Srinivas Narayanan departed.

Apr 17, 2026 departed
Kevin Weil Chief Product Officer
Exited OpenAI as the company consolidated around enterprise AI.
Source
Apr 17, 2026 departed
Srinivas Narayanan CTO of Enterprise Applications
Reportedly left OpenAI during the April 2026 consolidation around enterprise AI priorities.
Source
Apr 3, 2026 new
Denise Dresser Chief Revenue Officer
Joined OpenAI and assumed commercial responsibilities from COO.
Source
Sep 2, 2025 new
Vijaye Raji CTO of Applications
Joined as OpenAI agreed to acquire Statsig, giving Applications a dedicated product-engineering leader.
Source
Sep 25, 2024 promoted
Mark Chen SVP of Research
Promoted to lead OpenAI’s research organization following executive departures.
Source

Frequently Asked Questions

Who leads OpenAI?

OpenAI is led by CEO Sam Altman, with President Greg Brockman overseeing product and applied efforts.

What does OpenAI do?

OpenAI develops frontier artificial intelligence models and deploys them through consumer products and enterprise platforms.

What type of organizational structure does OpenAI use?

OpenAI uses a hybrid structure combining founder-led executive control with distinct research, applied, and commercial divisions.

Who reports directly to OpenAI's CEO?

Direct reports include leaders of research, applied engineering, revenue, security, mission alignment, strategy, and AGI development.

How can this org chart be used for scaling planning?

The chart highlights where adding roles such as a COO or splitting product and engineering could reduce CEO span as the company grows.

Sources

Reference

Cite this page

If you reference this page in research, analysis, or news writing, use one of the formats below. Citation includes the SEC filing source where applicable.

APA 7th

Creately. (2026). OpenAI organizational structure. Creately. Retrieved , from https://creately.com/org-chart/major-startups/openai/

MLA 9th

"OpenAI Organizational Structure." Creately, April 1, 2026, https://creately.com/org-chart/major-startups/openai/. Accessed .

Chicago 17

Creately. "OpenAI Organizational Structure." Last modified April 1, 2026. https://creately.com/org-chart/major-startups/openai/.

Permanent URL: https://creately.com/org-chart/major-startups/openai/ · last updated 2026-04-01

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