Last month, Fortune published its list of the 25 Most Powerful Rising Executives in the Fortune 500, highlighting leaders poised to one day take the helm of some of America’s largest corporations. The ranking required extensive reporting and conversations with leading management consultants, CEO search firms, and executive recruiters. In doing so, one name that repeatedly emerged as a future CEO was that of Brad Lightcap, COO of OpenAI.

Although the millennial didn’t make the final list—limited to executives currently working for Fortune 500 companies—many recruiters praised his credentials, potential, and youth.

As COO, Lightcap oversees OpenAI’s business operations and strategic partnerships across research, applied AI, and go-to-market functions. He also manages the OpenAI Startup Fund, which invests in early-stage AI companies. Before joining OpenAI in 2018 as CFO, Lightcap was part of Y Combinator Continuity and led finance and operations initiatives at Dropbox. A graduate of Duke University, he began his career as an investment banking analyst at J.P. Morgan.

Since his promotion to COO in May 2022, Lightcap has spearheaded the expansion of OpenAI’s revenue streams, including the launch of ChatGPT Enterprise, which boasts over 260 paying customers and 100,000 registered users. He has also played a pivotal role in forging partnerships to enhance AI accessibility, such as collaborations with media organizations like Time magazine to integrate higher-quality, real-time news content into OpenAI’s tools.

During internal challenges, notably the brief ousting of CEO Sam Altman in November 2023, Lightcap was instrumental in maintaining organizational stability. He worked to calm employee concerns and reassure customers, personally contacting about 40 clients over 48 hours. OpenAI retained all its customers during the crisis, Lightcap later recounted to Bloomberg.

As COO, Lightcap has been vocal about setting realistic expectations for AI’s transformative impact on business. He has cautioned against viewing AI as a quick fix for complex problems, noting that while it holds immense potential, its integration into existing business systems must be deliberate and thoughtful because it is still in its early stages.

At just 34, Lightcap has caught the attention of executive recruiters. “He is a total genius,” said the head of a CEO search practice, who spoke on condition of anonymity so he could speak candidly about executives on the firm’s radar. “He’s always had something extraordinarily special about him…and I’ve heard top-tier CEOs, including Fortune 10 leaders, say, ‘Brad is the next great CEO in technology.’”

The COO role has long been a springboard to the CEO position. Lightcap’s leadership at OpenAI—one of the most groundbreaking companies of our time—could very well position him as a strong contender to become a Fortune 500 chief executive.

Ruth Umoh
ruth.umoh@fortune.com

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