By Stephen Nellis
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Intel’s new CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, is streamlining the semiconductor giant’s leadership team, with important chip groups reporting directly to him, according to a memo from Tan seen by Reuters.
Intel has also promoted networking chip chief Sachin Katti to be chief technology officer and artificial intelligence chief, according to the memo.
The leadership changes are the first major move under Tan, who took the top job last month. Intel’s data center and AI chip group, as well as its personal-computer chip group, will report directly to Tan.
They previously were overseen by Michelle Johnston Holthaus, who was chief executive of Intel products.
“I want to roll up my sleeves with the engineering and product teams so I can learn what’s needed to strengthen our solutions,” Tan wrote. “As Michelle and I drive this work, we plan to evolve and expand her role with more details to come in the future.”
Katti, who is also a professor at Stanford University, will succeed Greg Lavender, who is retiring from Intel, according to the memo.
The memo follows Tan’s public comments that he aimed to trim layers of management from the company so that executive leadership would work more closely with its engineers.
“It’s clear to me that organizational complexity and bureaucratic processes have been slowly suffocating the culture of innovation we need to win,” Tan said in the memo. “It takes too long to make decisions. New ideas are not given room or resources to incubate. And unnecessary silos lead to inefficient execution.”
(Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by William Mallard)
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