How OpenAI Runs Its Entire Operation On Slack
Imagine a modern tech company, especially one at the forefront of a global revolution, operating almost entirely without email. That's the picture painted by Calvin French-Owen, a former engineer at OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT.
After spending about a year at the company, from May 2024 to June 2025, the MIT graduate shared his reflections in a recent blog post. He aimed to cut through the "smoke and noise" to provide a firsthand account of the company's unique culture.
Inside OpenAI’s All-Slack Workspace
One of the most striking details from French-Owen's experience is the company's radical approach to internal communication. Instead of inboxes cluttered with email threads, OpenAI's operations are centered on a different platform.
"An unusual part of OpenAI is that everything, and I mean everything, runs on Slack," French-Owen wrote.
He highlighted just how total this shift is, stating, "There is no email. I maybe received ~10 emails in my entire time there." This means all internal discussions, project updates, and announcements happen within the workplace messaging program owned by Salesforce.
Navigating a Slack-Dominated Culture
While a "zero-inbox" policy might sound like a dream to some, French-Owen acknowledged it has its own challenges. He noted that relying entirely on Slack can be "incredibly distracting." However, he ultimately found the system "pretty workable," provided that employees actively curate their channels and manage notifications to maintain focus.
This communication style is particularly noteworthy given the reputation of OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman. A 2023 profile revealed that during his tenure as president of Y Combinator, Altman was known to track how quickly founders replied to his emails and texts, suggesting a high value placed on prompt, traditional correspondence. The company's current internal practices present an interesting evolution in communication philosophy.
Echoes of Early Meta and the AI Talent War
Beyond communication, French-Owen observed significant cultural and structural parallels with another tech giant. He noted a "very significant Meta → OpenAI pipeline" when it came to engineering talent.
"In many ways, OpenAI resembles early Meta: a blockbuster consumer app, nascent infra, and a desire to move really quickly," he wrote.
This connection is set against the backdrop of an intense AI talent war. Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has been actively poaching top researchers from OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic for its own superintelligence team.
The competition is fierce, with Altman recently describing Meta's massive signing bonus offers as "crazy." French-Owen's insights provide a valuable look not just at an unconventional workplace but also at the competitive dynamics shaping the future of artificial intelligence.
This post is based on an article from Business Insider.
