Intel told its manufacturing employees Wednesday that it has chosen a successor to Ann Kelleher, head of the chipmaker’s technology development and its top Oregon executive.
CEO Pat Gelsinger said Kelleher’s successor is Navid Shahriari, who jointly runs Intel’s design engineering operation from Arizona. Gelsinger didn’t say how much longer Kelleher will remain with the company.
The announcement comes at a critical moment for Intel as it prepares to roll out its latest generation of chip technology, called 18A.
“Ann isn’t going anywhere. Given the importance of TD (technology development), we have a robust long-term succession planning process,” Intel said in a statement to The Oregonian/OregonLive on Wednesday. The company said Shahriari will shift from his current engineering job to the technology development business with the expectation he be in charge of it someday.
“Navid is taking on new responsibilities to be prepared to eventually take over the TD role,” Intel said. “This reflects long term succession planning while Ann remains firmly in her role.”
Intel declined to say whether Shahriari will relocate from Arizona to work in Hillsboro, where the company has its most advanced factories. Kelleher, 59, has worked in Oregon since 2015.
She joined Intel nearly three decades ago as a process engineer in Ireland and rose through the business to run factories there and later in New Mexico and Arizona. Kelleher has led Intel’s technology development organization since 2020.
At that time, Intel was facing a severe technology deficit. A series of manufacturing setbacks had led to successive delays in new chip technology and rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. had seized the crown as the world’s largest and most advanced chipmaker — a title TSMC still holds.
When Intel named Gelsinger CEO in 2021, he gave Kelleher a “blank check” to invest in rebuilding the company’s manufacturing edge. Gelsinger committed tens of billions to rejuvenating Intel’s engineering, to building new factories in Arizona and Ohio, and to modernizing its main research factory in Oregon.
It hasn’t been enough.
Intel‘s sales have fallen by nearly a third since 2021 and the company’s stock price has dropped by half this year. Kelleher’s blank check now appears unsustainable.
The chipmaker is in the process of eliminating 15,000 jobs across the business through buyouts, early retirements and layoffs as it works to trim $10 billion from next year’s budget.
Last week, Intel disclosed that it will lay off 1,300 Oregon workers by the end of November. It’s one of the largest single rounds of job cuts in state history.
Intel is counting on the new 18A chips to stem the bleeding. It wants to demonstrate that the company is capable of making semiconductors on the industry’s cutting edge.
This is a crucial period for Intel as it tries to break into what the chip industry calls foundry work — contract manufacturing of chips commissioned by other companies and built to their specifications.
Intel hopes to show potential clients that its most advanced technology can compete with TSMC’s. It has even suggested it might someday split its manufacturing business into a separate company, a step some investment analysts and former board members have encouraged.
As head of Intel’s technology development business, Kelleher has overseen its factories and development of the 18A technology. Gelsinger reiterated last week that the 18A chips remained on track for release next year.
In Wednesday’s note to employees, he credited Kelleher with delivering on Intel’s ambitious timetable while simultaneously naming her successor. There was no indication that Gelsinger is dissatisfied with Kelleher’s progress on 18A or other Intel technology, but he chose a curious time to announce her replacement given that the new chips are at a pivotal phase.
“Navid is an accomplished leader with 35 years of Intel experience reflecting our deep bench of technical talent and we are grateful to have him in place for when the time comes,” the company said in Wednesday’s statement.
— Mike Rogoway covers Oregon technology and the state economy. Reach him at mrogoway@oregonian.com or 503-294-7699.
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