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OpenAI appoints Wiz executive Dali Rajic as CRO, second to hold the role in under 12 months

· by Pondero Newsdesk

The short version

Dali Rajic, former president and COO of the Google-acquired cybersecurity firm Wiz, joined OpenAI as Chief Revenue Officer on August 13, replacing Denise Dresser after less than a year in the role, the third major C-suite change at OpenAI in roughly 90 days.

OpenAI appoints Wiz executive Dali Rajic as CRO, second to hold the role in under 12 months

Three major C-suite roles at OpenAI changed hands in roughly 90 days. The latest: Dali Rajic joined as Chief Revenue Officer on August 13, replacing Denise Dresser after less than a year in the position, per OpenAI's announcement.

What

Rajic arrives from Wiz, the Google-acquired cybersecurity firm, where he served as president and COO. Before Wiz, he held the same president and COO title at Zscaler and was chief customer and revenue officer at AppDynamics. Per OpenAI's announcement, the company now serves more than two million businesses, twice the figure from a year ago, and its products reach more than one billion weekly active users. OpenAI president Greg Brockman framed the hire around building "repeatable execution" as the company scales its enterprise business.

Dresser's exit was announced alongside the hire. OpenAI credited her with building the commercial team and laying "the commercial foundation" during what it called a formative period for enterprise AI. She will remain through a transition period supporting current customers. OpenAI also announced a strategic partnership with Chad Peets and RPT Partners to support go-to-market hiring.

Rajic is the third significant leadership change in a short window. COO Brad Lightcap departed in early August and Fidji Simo stepped down from her position as CEO of AGI Deployment in July, per TechCrunch's reporting on the broader executive shift.

Why it matters

Enterprise teams evaluating OpenAI as a long-term platform vendor now face a concrete question: how much commercial continuity survives a third C-suite change in a quarter? Rajic's pedigree addresses part of that directly. His background spans enterprise SaaS at meaningful scale: Wiz reached a reported $32 billion acquisition price per TechCrunch under his operational leadership, and both Zscaler and AppDynamics scaled aggressively during his tenure. That history suggests OpenAI chose a builder rather than a caretaker.

The tighter risk sits at the account level. Multi-year enterprise deals depend on stable counterparts. A CRO change forces relationship resets with major customers at precisely the moment OpenAI is competing hardest for multi-year platform commitments. Brockman's "repeatable execution" framing acknowledges the gap openly: Dresser's tenure built the initial commercial infrastructure, and Rajic's job is to systematize it and grow faster.

What to watch next

Track whether OpenAI's enterprise deal velocity holds through Q3 2026 and whether the company signals revenue metrics ahead of any public offering. OpenAI has not confirmed an IPO timeline. Sustained C-suite churn is a factor institutional investors scrutinize in pre-IPO governance reviews, and three changes in 90 days will invite that scrutiny if the pace continues into Q4.

Sources