According to Business Insider, Torben Severson, the former chief of staff to Amazon retail CEO Doug Herrington, announced on Monday he left Amazon in October after 17 years. His new role is Vice President, Head of Global Business Development at OpenAI. Severson stated he joined OpenAI because it’s “squarely at the frontier of what’s possible.” The move comes after OpenAI and Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced a massive $38 billion partnership in early November. Data from LiveData Technologies shows OpenAI has hired over 400 workers in the past year, including more than a dozen former Amazon employees.
Why This Move Matters
This isn’t just another corporate poaching story. It’s a signal flare. Severson wasn’t just any exec; he was Herrington’s technical advisor, a role described as “highly coveted” because it involves being in nearly every meeting and call with the retail CEO. That means he had an intimate, ground-level view of Amazon’s massive, complex retail machinery—its strategies, its pain points, its partnership playbook. Now, he’s taking that insider knowledge to the company that’s arguably defining the next platform shift. OpenAI isn’t just hiring engineers; they’re hiring people who know how to commercialize technology at planetary scale. And who better than an Amazon veteran?
The Partnership Angle
Here’s the thing: Severson’s specific new role is the real tell. He’s heading Global Business Development. That team is responsible for building outside partnerships and commercial strategy. Now, re-read that $38 billion AWS deal announced last November. Suddenly, hiring a senior Amazon exec who spent “much of his time at Amazon in business development, working on partnerships” makes a ton of sense, doesn’t it? He likely understands the nuances of negotiating with AWS—and Amazon corporate—better than almost anyone outside the company. This hire looks less like a general talent grab and more like a strategic move to deepen and manage that critical, multi-billion dollar cloud relationship. It’s about having an insider on your side of the table.
A Broader Talent Migration
The article notes over a dozen ex-Amazonians have gone to OpenAI in the past year alone. That’s a trend worth watching. For years, the classic talent pipeline ran from Amazon/Microsoft/Google to hot startups or vice versa. Now, OpenAI has become a magnetic pole itself, pulling seasoned operators from the old guard. They’ve hired over 400 people recently. That’s explosive growth. It shows that for top talent, the center of gravity for “what’s next” has decisively shifted. These aren’t just AI researchers; they’re business development, legal, policy, and operations people. They’re building a full-fledged, dominant corporation at breakneck speed. And they’re raiding the established players to do it.
What It Says About Amazon
On the flip side, losing a 17-year veteran, especially from such a sensitive and trusted role, has to sting. It prompts a uncomfortable question: are the most exciting “moments of transformation,” as Severson put it, now happening *outside* of Amazon? The company is, of course, deeply invested in AI. But this departure suggests that for some ambitious leaders, the frontier of possibility and impact is perceived to be elsewhere. Amazon’s scale is immense, but OpenAI’s trajectory is vertical. In the war for top executive talent, narrative and perceived momentum matter. Right now, OpenAI seems to have the more compelling story for those drawn to industry-defining change.
