Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) takes a group photo with AI company leaders including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (C) and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei (R) at the AI Impact Conference in New Delhi on February 19, 2026.
Ludovic Marin Afp | Getty Images
Software giants are seeing their worst stock performance in years due to fears of AI disruption. Now they have a new problem.
Several top software executives have been poached by AI giants poaching talent for sales and go-to-market experience, according to sources.
Managers from Salesforce, Snowflakeagain Datadog were recently poached by OpenAI and Anthropic, lured by large compensation packages and the opportunity to bring existing corporate relationships to these AI companies, according to multiple sources.
Salesforce and OpenAI declined to comment. CNBC has reached out to Snowflake and Datadog for comment.
One of OpenAI’s splashiest software developers was Denise Dresser. Dresser is now chief revenue officer and previously served as CEO of social media platform Slack within Salesforce. Jennifer Majlessi also joined Salesforce last month and served as head of marketing at OpenAI, according to LinkedIn. Anthropic also hired from Salesforce, according to a source familiar with the hiring.
Competition for talent is not new to AI. Elite researchers have been prominent in the so-called “war for talent” in AI, attracting multi-million dollar salaries and signing bonuses in the tens of millions.
But the new frontier in the battle for talent is addressing the changing priorities of AI. The business segment has become the most important growth area for OpenAI – it is the most profitable and “sticky” segment of the business. Executives from Salesforce, Snowflake and others bring a deep bench of business relationships to help grow this segment.
As of January, enterprise customers make up about 40% of OpenAI’s business. But CFO Sarah Friar recently said the company is on track to bring that to 50% by the end of the year. OpenAI announced in November that more than one million enterprise customers worldwide use the company’s technology.
For software companies, the latest storm is AI.
The sector has already been rocked this year by concerns that AI tools from companies like Anthropic and OpenAI will upend the dominant cloud subscription model. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF (IGV), which tracks the sector, is down nearly 20% this year.
Other workers are also trying to continue with layoffs. Earlier this month, CNBC confirmed that The Oracle is laying off thousands of workers as it doubles down on AI cloud computing. Meta again Microsoft they also announced plans to reduce their workforce, and Meta is also investing in AI.
Structural changes in the technology workforce are making IT professionals consider where they can add value and ride the latest technology trends as more companies pour money into AI.
Sales executive Majlessi posted on LinkedIn that he was leaving Salesforce to join OpenAI. “What makes this opportunity especially meaningful is my true belief in the product. I have seen how useful this technology can be in work and life,” Majlessi wrote.
Two sources shared that OpenAI is also poaching its front-end developers Palantir Technologies in recent months.
Forward-deployment engineers are recognized by the industry as top-level professionals with skills in helping clients make significant changes to their businesses on-site using a variety of software capabilities. CNBC has reached out to Palantir for comment.
While traditional tech executives have a deep bench of relationships, sources at AI companies say not all are cultural fits. Some lack the ability to work the long hours demanded by fast-growing AI companies, one executive said.
— CNBC’s Noah Broder contributed to this report
