Intel Corporation has announced a series of significant changes to its top executive team, effective immediately. Michelle Johnston Holthaus, the company’s products chief, will be leaving her position after over three decades with the US chipmaker. Holthaus has held various senior leadership roles, including interim co-CEO, and will remain a strategic adviser for the coming months.
The changes come as Intel’s CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, intensifies efforts to turn the company around. Tan has been working to streamline operations and flatten the company’s leadership structure, with key chip groups reporting directly to him. This move is part of a broader strategy to improve efficiency and competitiveness in the chip industry.
Intel has also announced the appointment of Kevork Kechichian as executive vice president and general manager of the data centre group. Kechichian is a veteran of the chip industry, having previously worked at Arm, NXP Semiconductors, and Qualcomm. His expertise is expected to bring significant benefits to Intel’s data centre business.
In addition to these changes, Intel has established a new central engineering group, which will be led by Srinivasan Iyengar, a senior vice president. This group will focus on building a custom silicon business to serve a range of external customers. Naga Chandrasekaran, executive vice president and chief technology and operations officer of Intel Foundry, will expand his role to include Foundry Services. Jim Johnson has been appointed as general manager of Intel’s client computing group.
These changes come at a critical time for Intel, as the company faces uncertainty and challenges in the global chip market. The US government has recently announced plans to take a 10% stake in the company, and there have been calls for CEO Tan to resign due to conflicts of interest. Despite these challenges, Intel remains committed to its goals of improving efficiency, competitiveness, and innovation in the chip industry. The company’s new leadership structure and appointments are expected to play a key role in achieving these objectives.
