Uber President Jill Hazelbaker departs for OpenAI

Uber Technologies Inc. President Jill Hazelbaker is leaving the ride-hailing giant to lead communications at OpenAI, becoming the latest veteran executive to depart Uber this year. Hazelbaker will join OpenAI as chief corporate affairs officer, overseeing the AI company’s global communications and corporate positioning efforts, according to a statement Nov. 3. Hazelbaker joined Uber in 2015 after stints at Snapchat Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google. She played a prominent role during the company’s tumultuous early years under co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick, leading its policy and communications operations. She later became a trusted lieutenant of current CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, rising through the ranks to become one of Uber’s most senior executives. In May, she was promoted to president and chief corporate affairs officer, taking on additional oversight of the company’s human resources and real estate functions. About a month after her promotion, Hazelbaker announced plans to cut 23% of jobs in Uber’s human resources division as part of an effort to simplify its organizational structure. That was followed by a broader round of layoffs affecting 10% of the company’s workforce, aimed at reducing bureaucracy. Her departure adds to a series of senior leadership changes at Uber as investors weigh the company’s future in a transportation industry increasingly shaped by autonomous vehicles. Sarfraz Maredia, Uber’s global head of autonomous mobility and delivery, is set to leave later this month after more than 12 years at the company. Susan Anderson, who led Uber’s delivery business, departed in June after nearly a decade. Uber Freight ranks No. 16 on the Transport Topics…

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