New CRO at OpenAI
OpenAI has named Dali Rajic as its new chief revenue officer, replacing Denise Dresser, who held the role for less than a year. Rajic, 53, previously served as president and chief operating officer at Wiz, the Google-owned cybersecurity company, and is known as one of the most disciplined enterprise sales leaders in tech. His appointment is seen by some as a significant win for OpenAI; one source with ties to rival Anthropic called the recruitment a "coup," as reported by Fortune.
Rajic starts this week, according to The Next Web, which noted that OpenAI investor Josh Kushner introduced him to the company, and Greg Brockman made the hire, as reported by CNBC and a source. Brockman took over the revenue organization in early July after Fidji Simo stepped down to focus on her health.
Background and reputation
Rajic's career spans several high-profile technology companies. He ran sales at AppDynamics from 2012, rising to chief revenue officer, and helped pitch the company to investors before Cisco acquired it for $3.7 billion the day before its planned market debut. He later spent five years at Zscaler as president of go-to-market and CRO, then moved to Wiz in 2024. Google acquired Wiz in 2026 for $32 billion, its largest acquisition to date.
Jyoti Bansal, who hired Rajic in 2012 to lead sales for AppDynamics, told Fortune: "If OpenAI is behind on enterprise, he is definitely the guy."
Rajic's approach to sales is methodical. He follows the MEDDPICC sales framework, created in 1996 at PTC by Dick Dunkel, Jack Napoli, and John McMahon, and is described as a protégé of John McMahon, "the godfather of enterprise sales." He uses "leading indicators" to predict sales success and does not hesitate to move out underperformers. His goal, according to colleagues, is to build "a very disciplined, highly predictable, scalable go-to-market machine."
Shardul Shah, an Index Ventures partner, compared Rajic's network to the "PTC Mafia," listing executives including the CEOs of MongoDB and Datadog. Rajic is also known for being blunt, intellectual, and relentless; a former colleague called him "the Croatian Sensation" and described his habit of eating Starbucks hard-boiled eggs. He does not have an X account and avoids public speaking engagements.
Rajic was born in Yugoslavia (now Croatia), moved to Germany at age one, and came to the United States at 16. He studied at Cal Poly Pomona and earned an MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and three children, and plans to travel and possibly spend time in San Francisco.
Departures and turnover
Rajic's appointment comes amid notable leadership churn. Denise Dresser, who oversaw a commercial organization of roughly 1,200 people and was "always on the road," left after nine months. Earlier, Kaylin Voss, OpenAI's vice president of sales in the Americas, resigned after five months to return to Salesforce, as reported by The Information. Voss had previously been Slack's chief revenue officer. Her departure was publicly welcomed by Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, who posted "Welcome Home to The Ohana @KaylinVoss!" on X, a post viewed more than 135,000 times.
OpenAI has seen significant leadership changes recently, including the departure of Fidji Simo from the number two role. According to Fortune's Emily Forlini, this is the company's fifth C-suite change in a year. OpenAI acknowledges the turnover and says it is similar to other fast-growing companies. A spokesperson said Rajic was picked to lead the next phase of growth and that there is a strong bench.
Neither Voss nor Dresser has given a public reason for leaving, and OpenAI has not named a replacement for Voss. It also remains unclear whether the sales structure Voss was building will continue.
Enterprise focus and market context
The leadership changes come as OpenAI shifts its focus toward enterprise revenue. According to CNBC, OpenAI now earns more from enterprises than consumers, a milestone it reached earlier than planned. The company is also expanding its cybersecurity offerings, branding its program as Daybreak and introducing multiple access tiers on August 10, an area where Rajic's background is particularly relevant.
The competitive landscape is also evolving. Anthropic, backed by the same investor group, is reportedly planning an IPO as soon as September, which would likely beat OpenAI to public markets. OpenAI's CFO has told staff the company will go public in 2027 or sooner, according to a report. Some in the industry are watching whether Rajic can navigate this pressure; as one source put it, the open question is "if Dali is there in 12 or 18 months, or if he will burn out like so many other people do at OpenAI."