Intel has announced significant changes to its top management, another step in the restructuring strategy being intensified by CEO Lip-Bu Tan.
The key news is the departure of Michelle Johnston Holthaus, a veteran of more than 30 years at the company, who was most recently head of product.
Holthaus, who has held a number of key positions in the past, including interim co-head of the company following Pat Gelsinger’s departure, will remain in a strategic advisory role for the next few months.
Her departure is part of Tan’s wider efforts to simplify the management structure and direct oversight of key departments.
Kevork Kechichian joins Intel as executive vice president and general manager of the data centre group.
Kechichian is an experienced semiconductor industry executive, moving from Arm and previously associated with NXP Semiconductors and Qualcomm.
The company is also creating a new central engineering group to be headed by senior vice-president Srinivasan Iyengar.
His task will be to build a new business from scratch in the area of custom silicon chips, targeting a wide range of external customers.
Other managers are also affected by the changes. Naga Chandrasekaran, executive vice-president and director of technology and operations at Intel Foundry, will expand his responsibilities to include foundry services.
In turn, Jim Johnson has been appointed as the new CEO of the client computing group.
These staff reshuffles signal Intel’s determination to streamline operations and strengthen key business areas, such as data centres and foundry services, in a rapidly changing market environment.
