Intel just lost its Chief Product Officer Michelle Johnston Holthaus after three decades, marking the biggest leadership shake-up since CEO Lip-Bu Tan's arrival in March. The departure comes alongside a strategic pivot creating a new custom silicon division targeting external customers, signaling Intel's aggressive push to compete in the AI chip wars while government oversight looms over its foundry operations.
Intel is reshaping its executive ranks in the most dramatic leadership overhaul since CEO Lip-Bu Tan took control six months ago. The semiconductor giant announced Monday that Michelle Johnston Holthaus, Chief Executive Officer of Intel Products, will depart after more than three decades with the company, remaining only as a strategic adviser during the transition.
The move immediately sent ripples through the semiconductor industry, where executive departures at Intel's level often signal major strategic shifts. Johnston Holthaus had been instrumental in Intel's product roadmap during some of its most challenging years competing against AMD and Nvidia in both consumer and data center markets.
Simultaneously, Intel announced the creation of a Central Engineering group designed to accelerate its custom silicon business for external customers. The division will be led by Srinivasan "Srini" Iyengar, who joined Intel from Cadence Design Systems in July, bringing deep expertise in chip design automation tools that could prove crucial as Intel battles TSMC for foundry market share.
"With Srini leading Central Engineering, we're aligning innovation and execution more tightly in service to customers," Tan said in the company press release. "We are laser-focused on delivering world-class products and empowering our engineering teams to move faster and execute with excellence."
The leadership shuffle extends beyond Holthaus's departure. Kevork Kechichian, formerly of ARM, joins as head of Intel's data center group, while Jim Johnson takes over as senior vice president and general manager of Intel's client computing division. Naga Chandrasekaran, already serving as chief technology and operations officer of Intel Foundry, receives expanded responsibilities overseeing the custom chip manufacturing business.
These moves come just weeks after the U.S. government announced plans to convert existing grants into a 10% stake in Intel, with terms specifically structured to . The government oversight adds pressure on Intel's foundry strategy, making the Central Engineering group's success critical to justifying the federal investment.
