Big Changes At Intel

HPC, Data Platform And Graphics

If you haven’t heard yet, there has been a big shake up at Intel, with the long time lead of their Xeon and data centre Navin Shenoy leaving the company next week after Pat Gelsinger split the single unit into one focusing on data center and AI; the other on networking and network edge.  Sandra Rivera, who has been Intel’s chief people officer and head of the Network Platforms Group will handle the data side, while Nick McKeown who joined Intel in 2019 after leaving Barefoot Networks, which he helped found, will handle the networking side.   They will both report directly to Pat Gelsinger.

Raja Koduri, who isn’t going anywhere but up at Intel, will be heading an expanded graphics division as Intel focuses on competing with NVIDIA in AI, machine learning and other HPC applications that NVIDIA is using to make inroads into the server market.  A side effect of that should be increasingly impressive performance from the consumer versions of Intel’s Xe GPUs.

Greg Lavender has left his role as CTO of VMWare to join Intel’s brand new software and advanced technology group, which will work with various groups, such as Raja’s, to ensure that there is decent software to run on the new hardware the graphics/HPC group will be developing.  After all, it doesn’t matter how good your hardware is if your software is painful to use.

No word about certain PCPer alumni; and no news is good news.