About the Talk:

OpenAI Forum is hosting a Codex showcase on how teams across OpenAI are using Codex in their own work. We will begin with Ronnie Chatterji, OpenAI's Chief Economist, to discuss his recent research on how agentic AI is changing work both inside and outside of OpenAI. Then, teams from across OpenAI will share short demos of how they use Codex internally to increase their impact and productivity.

About the Speakers:

Ronnie Chatterji, Chief Economist @ OpenAI

Aaron “Ronnie” Chatterji, Ph.D., is OpenAI’s first Chief Economist. He is also the Mark Burgess & Lisa Benson-Burgess Distinguished Professor at Duke University, working at the intersection of academia, policy, and business. He served in the Biden Administration as White House CHIPS coordinator and Acting Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, shaping industrial policy, manufacturing, and supply chains. Before that, he was Chief Economist at the Department of Commerce and a Senior Economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers. He is on leave as a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and previously taught at Harvard Business School. Earlier in his career, he worked at Goldman Sachs and was a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Chatterji holds a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley and a B.A. in Economics from Cornell University.

Drew Johnston, Member of Technical Staff @ OpenAI

Drew Johnston is a Member of Technical Staff on OpenAI’s Economic Research team, where he studies how AI is transforming work, productivity, and organizational workflows. His research uses large-scale data to examine how people across technical and nontechnical roles adopt and work with AI tools. He holds a PhD in Economics from Harvard University and a BA in Computer Science and Economics from Columbia University. His recent work explores Codex adoption inside and outside OpenAI and what the rise of agentic AI could mean for jobs, skills, and the future of work.

Melanie Appleby, Member of Data Science Staff @ OpenAI

Melanie is a Data Scientist at OpenAI, where she works on making agentic products better at data work.

Ken Claassen, Head of Scaled Inbound/Outbound @ OpenAI

Ken Claassen leads Scaled Inbound and Outbound for OpenAI's SDR organization, where he helps teams turn customer interest and buying signals into pipeline. His work spans sales strategy, BPO leadership, and the prospecting technology used by SDRs. Before his current role, Ken worked in growth and product at OpenAI and ClickUp, building AI-powered sales programs and tools. He also built OpenAI's SMB outbound team from scratch, scaling it to 15 people. Today, he uses AI, including Codex, to understand performance, manage complex sales operations, and help teams work more effectively.

Blaine Billingsley, Member of Design Staff @ OpenAI