Who Is Jill Hazelbaker, OpenAI's Chief Corporate Affairs Officer?

Jill Hazelbaker serves as President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Uber and will join OpenAI as its chief corporate affairs officer in early December 2026.

OpenAI announced her appointment on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, assigning her responsibility for worldwide communications and corporate positioning, reporting to co-founder and president Greg Brockman.

Who Jill Hazelbaker Is

Jill Hazelbaker is the President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Uber, where she has worked since 2015, and the incoming chief corporate affairs officer at OpenAI.

On November 3, 2026, OpenAI announced that Hazelbaker will join the company to oversee its worldwide communications and corporate positioning, reporting directly to OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman.

Before the OpenAI move, Hazelbaker led Uber's global teams for marketing, communications, public policy and safety. Earlier she led communications at Google and Snap and worked on election campaigns.

• Current role: President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Incoming role: Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at OpenAI, reporting to Greg Brockman.
• Organization history: Uber, Snap Inc., Google, the 2008 John McCain presidential campaign and the 2009 Michael Bloomberg re-election campaign.
• In the news for: Her November 3, 2026 appointment to lead OpenAI's global communications team beginning in early December 2026.

What OpenAI Announced on November 3, 2026

OpenAI announced on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, that Jill Hazelbaker will join the company as chief corporate affairs officer to lead its global communications and corporate positioning.

According to reporting by Fortune, OpenAI stated that Hazelbaker will start her duties in early December 2026. She will stay on the East Coast while spending time in San Francisco, where OpenAI is headquartered.

OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman is quoted by Unite.ai: "As AI becomes part of more people's lives, how we communicate, engage, and earn public trust has never been more important."

PYMNTS quotes Hazelbaker from the OpenAI press release: "AI represents the most profound technological shift of our lifetime."

OpenAI's own announcement page at openai.com/index/jill-hazelbaker-chief-corporate-affairs-officer/ returned an HTTP 403 access error on November 4, 2026. The OpenAI details on this page come from Fortune, PYMNTS and Unite.ai.

Hazelbaker reports to Brockman. Sam Altman is OpenAI's chief executive officer. Thibault Sottiaux leads OpenAI's Core Products and Platform organization and reports directly to Brockman. The AI people to watch guide covers other people in AI.

The Communications Role She Is Filling

Hazelbaker fills an executive communications vacancy that had remained open without a permanent appointee since early 2026.

Hannah Wong served as OpenAI's chief communications officer until her departure in January 2026, as documented by Fortune. Since then, OpenAI's Chris Lehane has led the communications team on an interim basis.

Career Across Politics, Google, Snap, and Uber

Before the 2008 McCain campaign, Hazelbaker held leadership roles on local, state and federal election campaigns, according to the Uber Leadership Page.

In 2008, Hazelbaker served as the National Communications Director and Chief Spokesperson for Senator John McCain during his United States presidential campaign.

Following the 2008 presidential race, Hazelbaker worked in 2009 as Press Secretary to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg during his re-election campaign.

At Google, Hazelbaker led communications for Europe, the Middle East and Africa and government relations in Europe, and earlier ran the corporate communications team. At Snap she led communications and public policy. The Uber Leadership Page gives no years for either role.

In 2015, Hazelbaker joined Uber as Vice President of Policy and Communications, according to PYMNTS. Reporting from Fortune 40 Under 40 in 2020 noted that she helped the company through rapid growth, a highly anticipated initial public offering, and the ousting of previous CEO Travis Kalanick.

Fortune also highlighted that Hazelbaker was one of the main advocates inside Uber for publishing the company's Safety Report. That report publicly accounted for vehicle accidents, sexual assaults, and murders on the service.

In 2020 she was named to Fortune's 40 Under 40 list, according to the McCain Institute.

Her Uber Role Before the Move

Hazelbaker held the title of Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President, Communications & Public Policy at Uber before her promotion in May 2026.

On May 11, 2026, Uber filed a Form 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announcing that Hazelbaker had been elevated to the executive position of President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, effective immediately.

The filing says she took over the responsibilities of Nikki Krishnamurthy, the former Chief People Officer who stepped down. It also gave her oversight of the company's Safety Operations function.

As of November 4, 2026, the undated leadership profile on the Uber Leadership Page continues to list Hazelbaker as President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer. The page describes her remit as the global teams responsible for marketing, communications, public policy and safety. It also covers human resources, recruiting and real estate.

Unpublished Details Surrounding the Transition

Several details of the move are missing from the Fortune, PYMNTS and Unite.ai reports.

The date she leaves Uber is not given. Fortune reports only an early-December start at OpenAI. None of the reports names who succeeds her at Uber.

The reports do not say how OpenAI's communications team will be organized under her.

Unite.ai gives no reason for her leaving Uber, and the other two reports do not either.

OpenAI has had no permanent communications chief since Hannah Wong left in January 2026. Hazelbaker has worked in Uber's communications and policy leadership since 2015 and became its President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer in May 2026. At OpenAI she will report to Greg Brockman. The reports do not show how OpenAI's communications will change, and they quote her on AI in one line only. A different title, reporting line or start date in OpenAI's own announcement would change those details.

To check for updates on who runs OpenAI's communications, read OpenAI's announcement of Hazelbaker's appointment and her profile on the Uber Leadership Page.