Software industry executives jump ship to OpenAI

Software giants are seeing their worst stock performance in years on fears of AI disruption. Now they have a new problem.

Several top software executives have been poached by AI giants that are hunting for talent with sales and go-to-market experience, according to sources.

Executives from Salesforce, Snowflake, and Datadog have been poached recently by OpenAI and Anthropic, lured by large compensation packages and the opportunity to bring existing corporate relationships to these AI companies, according to multiple sources.

Salesforce and OpenAI declined to comment. CNBC reached out to Snowflake and Datadog for comment.

One of OpenAI’s splashiest software hires was Denise Dresser. Dresser is now the chief revenue officer and previously served as CEO of the communication platform Slack within Salesforce. Jennifer Majlessi also joined Salesforce last month and took a role as head of go-to-market at OpenAI, according to LinkedIn. Anthropic has also hired from Salesforce, according to a source familiar with the hires.

Competing for talent isn’t new in AI. Elite researchers have been the highlight of the so-called “talent war” in AI, attracting multimillion-dollar salaries and signing bonuses in the tens of millions.

But the new frontier in the talent war speaks to AI giants’ changing priorities. The enterprise segment has become an increasingly important growth area for OpenAI — it’s a much more profitable and “sticky” part of the business. Executives from Salesforce, Snowflake and others bring a deep bench of enterprise relationships to help grow this segment.

As of January, enterprise customers made up roughly 40% of OpenAI’s business. But CFO Sarah Friar recently said the company is on track to bring that to 50% by the end of the year. OpenAI announced in November that more than 1 million business customers worldwide are using the company’s technology.

For software companies, it’s the latest AI headwind.

The sector has already been crushed this year on concerns that AI tools from companies like Anthropic and OpenAI will upend the dominant cloud subscription model. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF (IGV), which tracks the sector, is down almost 20% this year.

Some employees are also trying to get ahead of layoffs. Earlier this month, CNBC confirmed that Oracle was laying off thousands of employees as it doubled down on AI cloud computing. Meta and Microsoft have also announced plans to reduce their workforces, with Meta reinvesting in AI.

The structural change in the tech workforce is prompting IT professionals to consider where they can add value and ride the latest technology trend as more companies pour money into AI.

Sales executive Majlessi posted on LinkedIn that she was leaving Salesforce to join OpenAI. “What makes this opportunity especially meaningful is my genuine belief in the product. I’ve seen how useful this technology can be in both work and life,” Majlessi wrote.

Two sources share that OpenAI has also poached forward-deployed engineers from Palantir Technologies in recent months.

Forward-deployed engineers are considered by the industry to be top-tier professionals skilled at helping clients implement instrumental changes to their businesses on-site using various software capabilities. CNBC reached out to Palantir for comment.

While traditional tech executives have a deep bench of relationships, sources at AI companies say it’s not always a cultural fit. Some lack the drive to work long hours that the fast-growing AI companies demand, one executive said.

— CNBC’s Noah Broder contributed to this report