OpenAI, Sam Altman & Satya Nadella: Leadership at Glance

Note: This article is getting updated as the situation evolves.

You will probably agree with me when I say that, on Friday, we saw a terrible example of leadership at play: Unless the OpenAI Board was operating out of valid reasons the could not disclose, the firing of Sam Altman was almost universally received as a terrible, risky move.

However, the following two days is this modern day tech drama were even more interesting, for they brought afloat two roles models:

• One for inspiring leadership and company culture
• One for strategic prowess and true agility

Let's tackle them one by one:

Sam Altman: Losing a Battle to Win the War

This is something OpenAI's board didn't see coming.

At 28 years old I might be young, but I've also seen my share of founders leader a company, pass away, get taken over or straight out getting fired: In all of these occasions, some people always left.

However, between Saturday and Sunday we saw something unprecedented that should make every CEO stand at attention: Upon Sam getting fired, not only did Greg Brockman quit – giving us a hint at the fact that, most likely, the Board wasn't acting in good faith – but most of OpenAI's staff rose up in a beautiful mutiny of red hearts that made me feel like I was staring at a sudden appearance of Northern Lights.

This is a prime example of company culture. And I'm not talking about the wishy-washy, kumbaya list of values most companies deploy as bait on their websites and onboarding material – I'm talking about real cultural unity. What we saw this weekend is not respect for the founder or appreciation for the boss, it was comradeship.

You see, all universally hailed companies, from IKEA to OpenAI, have something in common: A strong Vision and a deep Purpose, two factors that make the audience, from fans to prospects, feel like they are part of something. It also affects culture, for employees feel that their job is not just a set of daily operations they have to perform to extract money. Purpose and Vision make employees stick together like a community, and every community will defend itself when attacked.

The Board attacked the leader of that community, and the community stood up for him, backing him up, teaching us all as lesson in successful leadership:

• Success comes from caring deeply for your people (as Gary Vaynerchuk never fails to remind us)
• Success comes from letting the Vision drive business decisions
• Success comes from infusing a sense of Purpose into every day tasks

All together, these factors made Sam and Greg leaders that lead by example. As a result, their teams follow them more than they follow the company's flag, the Boards whims, or a salary.

But they are not the only winners from this weekend.

Satya Nadella: Strategic Prowess x True Agility

Many tech companies claim the concept of agility. Agile mindset this, agile workflows that – in many cases it's just waterfall processes dressed up in a flat hierarchy suit and wearing a somewhat fun-culture lipstick.

Usually, the agility talk comes from startups or scale-ups: The players who claim, often correctly, that big corporations cannot move fast.

You see, when Microsoft acquired 49% of Open AI Satya Nadella knew that he wasn't acquiring just disruptive tech and a name but more importantly a vision and a clear-cut set of specific capabilities and skills.

It's not by chance that Satya acted after the staff uprising: Without Sam and Greg the company was losing its Vision, but without the Staff 微软 was about to lose the unique capabilities of OpenAI – the true value behind that 14 billion acquisition.

So, despite what everyone says about big corporations and high-profile CEOs, Satya moved with the speed of a startup founder and the strategic prowess of an executive with decades of skin in the game, retaining Sam and Greg within the Microsoft business ecosystem.

Putting them where they shine best: At the helm of something exceptional.

OpenAI: The Future

If you ask me, unless OpenAI plays their cards flawlessly, dark clouds loom on their horizon. With many of their prime, sought-after talent leaving and the two visionary drivers gone, Ilya Sutskever will be left with the daunting task of:

• Building trust between CEO and employees despite the board
• Driving the vision forward or creating a new one
• Fostering a new culture

You might be tempted to argue that Microsoft and the board won't let OpenAI die, but the problem is that it doesn't depend on them: AI's apex predator is badly wounded and will need time to heal.

And, as it heals, hungrier players will try to take the throne, and I wouldn't be surprised if Sam Altman's new breakthrough, whenever it comes, will be leading the charge.

Update : Ilya Backtracks [Nov. 3, 17:20 CEST]

Ilya Sutskever came out on Twitter expressing regret for his actions.

This decision sheds an even worse light on OpenAI's board and their intentions, but it also raises questions about their priorities and affiliations: Ilya's tweet makes you feel like he was manipulated into acting with the board – if so, why? And by whom, precisely?