OpenAI's 8-Year Veteran COO Brad Lightcap Resigns to Start His Own Venture Brad Lightcap, OpenAI's Chief Operating Officer, has announced his resignation to pursue entrepreneurship, ending his 8-year tenure. He joined OpenAI in 2018, serving as CFO (2018-2022) and COO (2022-April 2026), before transitioning to oversee special projects this April. During his tenure, Lightcap built the first versions of OpenAI's finance, legal, HR, marketing/government affairs, and partnership teams, witnessing the company grow from a small research lab into 'one of the most influential companies of our time.' Sam Altman responded, saying, 'I’ll really miss our earliest conversations about OpenAI, which sounded completely crazy at the time, and you were one of the few who understood. We wouldn’t be where we are today without you.' This marks the latest in a series of executive departures at OpenAI. Previously, Safety Systems Lead Johannes Heidecke, Ethics Lead Chloé Bakalar, former Safety Systems Lead Lilian Weng, and Chief Futurist Joshua Achiam also left the company. The wave of high-level exits has sparked concerns about governance stability ahead of a potential IPO.