OpenAI’s chief people officer, Julia Villagra is set to leave the company on Friday, 22 August, 2025, the firm has confirmed. Her exit comes just months after she joined the San Francisco-based artificial intelligence maker in February 2024 as head of human resources.
By March, Villagra had been elevated to the chief people officer role by CEO Sam Altman. In her absence, Jason Kwon, OpenAI’s chief strategy officer will take charge of the function temporarily. A permanent replacement will be recruited by Fidji Simo, the company’s newly-appointed CEO of applications.
Villagra is moving on to pursue her passion for art, music, and storytelling, which she hopes to use as tools to help people understand the global shift towards artificial general intelligence (AGI). OpenAI defines AGI as the stage when machines surpass humans in performing most economically valuable work.
Her departure comes at a time when public unease over AI’s impact on jobs continues to grow.
Meanwhile, OpenAI is battling intense competition for top AI talent. Microsoft-backed OpenAI faces a talent war led by Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, who has reportedly offered $100 million signing bonuses to lure away researchers. To strengthen its position, OpenAI has been exploring an employee share sale that could value the company at $500 billion, a sharp jump from its current $300 billion valuation.
Villagra’s departure is part of the leadership changes within OpenAI as it navigates the challenges of the AI revolution.
