Sam Altman, the co-founder and CEO of ChatGPT, got the boot from the board, citing a lack of consistent transparency in his dealings with them. Mira Murati, the company’s chief technology officer, briefly took the helm but was swiftly replaced by Emmett Shear, the ex-CEO of Twitch, as the new interim head honcho. While this shake-up was unfolding, Microsoft, an investor in OpenAI, swooped in to snag Altman and another co-founder, Greg Brockman, along with a bunch of other ex-OpenAI folks, to spearhead a fresh advanced AI research team. But here’s the kicker: almost the entire OpenAI workforce—more than 700 employees—sent a stern letter to the board, threatening to jump ship for Microsoft unless Altman and Brockman were reinstated and the board took a hike.
In a nutshell: OpenAI has seen three CEOs in as many days, and there’s a brewing exodus among employees due to the board’s actions. The public spectacle around this leadership shift at OpenAI holds valuable lessons in CEO succession and smooth transitions, according to Alexander Kirss, a senior principal researcher at Gartner’s HR practice. Kirss emphasizes the pivotal nature of the relationship between a board and the CEO, highlighting the need for a shared understanding of performance and a high level of mutual trust.
Since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, OpenAI’s value has soared to an estimated $86 billion, quite a hefty figure. Kirss stresses that CEOs shouldn’t be caught off guard by the board’s evaluation; it’s a matter of transparent communication from both ends. Succession planning, he adds, should start well in advance, ideally involving the CEO, HR head, and board members in establishing a robust plan for the organization’s long-term viability.
He underlines the importance of internal communication during succession planning, noting that employees often share a unique bond with their CEO, even if they’re not direct reports. Boards and organizations, Kirss insists, need to be transparent and communicative both internally and externally during such transitions to maintain employee confidence in leadership continuity. Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI’s Co-Founder and Chief Scientist, initially aligned with the board but later expressed regret and support for the employee demand to reverse course.
