{
  "id": 2006106,
  "title": "OpenAI is losing female execs. But data shows women in AI don’t even make it to the C-suite",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/19/openai-is-losing-female-execs-but-data-shows-women-in-ai-dont-even",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-08-19T19:30:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Fast Company",
    "slug": "fast-company",
    "url": "https://www.fastcompany.com/91591903/openai-is-losing-female-execs-but-data-shows-women-in-ai-dont-even-make-it-to-the-c-suite"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "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.",
  "summary": "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…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}