Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan Streamlines Leadership Structure

The newly-appointed Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan is redoing the company's leadership structure, a month after taking over the job. His goal, set in a recent internal memo, is to eliminate bottlenecks in the company's huge, unwieldy structure and to encourage it to do what it has always claimed it can do: innovate. Tan moved a number of top executives around and put the major chip divisions, data center, AI, and PC processors, directly under him. That was a clear signal that he wants to speed decision-making and cut through red tape.

Tan stressed that the company's innovative edge has suffered because of delays and too many silos. He made it clear that across-the-board, fast communication is necessary if the company is to compete well in the ever-changing, big-tech landscape. Working closely with Intel’s core engineering and product groups, Tan intends to get a first-hand look at the sorts of problems that need solutions.

Veteran Executives Brought Closer to the Top

Reorganizing the hierarchy means that three seasoned technical leaders, Rob Bruckner, Mike Hurley, and Lisa Pearce, will now report directly to Tan. Bruckner, Hurley, and Pearce have all been at Intel long enough to have a hand in many of its key chip products over the years. Bruckner, for instance, was a key architect for the Itanium processor. Likewise, Hurley has had a hand in several major Intel chips, and has also worked on the successor to Moore’s Law, a project that could have major implications for Intel's future. For the uninitiated, the company's success has mostly been about the team working under Lisa Pearce for years.

Tan remarked that this action fortifies his objective of transforming Intel back into a corporation where engineering is in the driver's seat. Moreover, it gives him much-improved sightlines into what's necessary for Intel to compete effectively across the many markets in which it plays, and particularly in the most important of these at the moment: AI, cloud computing, and consumer hardware.

Sachin Katti Takes on Expanded Role in AI and Technology

In a significant promotion, Intel has moved networking chip chief Sachin Katti to the position of Chief Technology and AI Officer. Katti is also a professor at Stanford. He replaces Greg Lavender, who retired from the post. Katti's new job description includes a long list of important development tasks for the company.

Katti has the ideal mix of experience in academia and industry to help Intel drive its future. He not only knows how to develop breakthrough computing technologies, but also knows how to partner with startups and the broader developer ecosystem to ensure those technologies have impact. I look forward to seeing how Katti's work in next-generation computing extends Intel's leadership.

The memo also revealed that Intel is looking for a new leader to run its government affairs team, who will report directly to Tan. This is considered a critical position, with the global semiconductor business becoming ever more affected by government policies, everything from export controls to public-private R&D funding.