OpenAI is losing female execs. But data shows women in AI don’t even make it to the C-suite
Multiple executives have decamped from OpenAI ahead of its forthcoming IPO, including some of the most prominent women in its C-suite. Last week, Denise Dresser stepped away from her post as chief revenue officer to “pursue other opportunities,” barely a month after top executive Fidji Simo dropped to a part-time role for health reasons. In the months prior, the company had lost a number of other…
OpenAI has recently seen several high-ranking female executives depart, among them Denise Dresser, chief revenue officer, and Fidji Simo, a top executive who took a part-time role due to health reasons. This departure of prominent women from the company's leadership aligns with a broader trend in the AI industry, where women are significantly underrepresented.
A recent analysis by LinkedIn’s Economic Graph Research Institute revealed that women hold only about 31% of AI leadership roles, defined as director-level positions or above, in 27 countries. This figure drops to one in eight for women in technical roles at the C-suite level, compared to a quarter of all C-suite roles across the workforce.
The underrepresentation of women becomes even more pronounced in smaller companies with fewer than 200 employees. The issue does not start at the highest levels; LinkedIn’s research also found that women are underrepresented in AI jobs right from the beginning. In 2025, only 26% of AI job hires were women, as opposed to 50% in non-AI jobs.
The disparity extends to entry-level AI roles, where women account for just 29% of employees, compared to the balanced gender split of 49% in corporate entry-level positions reported by McKinsey and Lean In. Overall, women are 10 percentage points less likely to be in AI jobs compared to non-AI jobs. Moreover, women are underrepresented in high-paying “head of AI” roles and director-level AI jobs, representing only 20% and over a quarter, respectively.
Instead, women are more likely to occupy lower-paying roles such as data annotation. This underrepresentation not only denies women lucrative job opportunities but also puts them at a disadvantage as they face the "broken rung" phenomenon, which hinders their advancement to senior roles. Men tend to be promoted to managerial positions at a higher rate, leading to fewer women reaching the leadership ranks.
The lack of female representation in AI companies is not only about missed professional opportunities and earnings potential for women; it also means that AI leaders are missing out on crucial perspectives needed to shape the most consequential technology of our time.
Written by urgent.news from Fast Company's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
