OpenAI made headlines again with the departure of some of its key figures—CTO Mira Murati, Chief Research Officer Bob McGrew, and VP of Post Training Barret Zoph. According to Zeki Data, the OpenAI departures signal a move away from hiring research-oriented individuals (explorers) to applied-focussed individuals (implementers).
Zeki’s data shows that since 2020, the company is prioritising hiring advanced implementers, individuals that know how to bring AI innovation into production, rather than early-career research-focussed hires that explore, not apply AI ideas.
“OpenAI is building the engine room it needs to produce the AI innovation necessary to transform the company by hiring advanced talent that has substantive AI production experience. The departure of these executives is notable but ultimately immaterial to OpenAI’s future innovation”, said Zeki Data CEO and co-founder, Tom Hurd.
As OpenAI forges ahead with its next funding round, reportedly seeking to raise $6.5 billion at a $150 billion valuation, Zeki Data delved deep into the engine room of OpenAI, and explored the individuals it’s hiring to realise their projected innovation.
OpenAI is sailing against hiring counter winds with a bold, independent strategy.
OpenAI is elevating the seniority of its hires, opting for individuals at intermediate and advanced stages of their careers (Figure 1), a movement that has been in the works since 2020.
In contrast, tech giants Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla are focussed on hiring early-career, cost-effective talent—returning to hiring patterns seen prior to 2014 (Figure 2). This is discussed further in Zeki Data’s just-released report ‘Deep-Tech Talent War’.
The OpenAI departures, signal a move away from hiring research-oriented individuals (explorers) to applied-focused individuals (implementers). These new implementers have the skills to bring OpenAI’s innovation priorities to fruition. Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever’s resignation in May 2024 and CTO Mira Murati’s announcement yesterday, affirms this signal and movement away from explorers to implementers.
This is evident in Figure 3, where Zeki Data shows that OpenAI has a marked preference for experienced hires with a practical bent, instead of purely research-oriented roles. This strategic pivot suggests a focus on applying AI innovations rather than pioneering theoretical advancements.
This is emphasised further in figure 4, where the expertise areas of OpenAI’s innovators over the past three years reveals a clear priority that practical applications of AI technology are taking precedence over traditional research roles.
To read more about deep-tech hiring trends, read Zeki Data’s latest report ‘Deep-Tech Talent War: The Europe vs. North America Showdown’.