Intel data centre boss exits as CEO plots major shake-up

Intel’s executive vice president of the Data Platforms Group, Navin Shenoy, is to resign his role next month, after over a quarter of a century in the company.

The move is part of a wider restructure at Intel, which involves the creation of two new business units focused on software and high-performance computing (HPC) and graphics.

The Software and Advanced Technology Group will be led by former VMware SVP & CTO Greg Lavender, while the Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics Group will be led by Apple and AMD veteran Raja Koduri.

Intel also announced that its Data Platform Group will be restructured into two new business units: Datacenter and AI as well as Network and Edge. The new groups are to be headed by Intel’s chief people officer Sandra Rivera and Stanford University professor Nick McKeown, respectively.

Lavender, Koduri, Rivera, and McKeown will report directly to CEO Pat Gelsinger, who said that, despite being “impressed with the depth of talent and incredible innovation throughout the company”, Intel “must move faster to fulfil our ambitions”.

“By putting Sandra, Raja, Nick and Greg – with their decades of technology expertise – at the forefront of some of our most essential work, we will sharpen our focus and execution, accelerate innovation, and unleash the deep well of talent across the company,” he added.

In an internal company memo, Gelsinger asked Intel employees to join him in “thanking Navin for his service and leadership at Intel over the past 26 years”.

“We wish him well as he starts his next chapter,” he added, without further describing the reason behind Shenoy’s departure.

Shenoy, who ran Intel's PC business until 2017, will formally leave Intel on 6 July, which will also be the day that McKeown will assume his role as SVP and general manager of the new Network and Edge Group. Prior to this, McKeown has served as a part-time Intel Senior Fellow, having joined the chipmaker in 2019 following its acquisition of Barefoot Networks, which he co-founded in 2013.

The mass reorganisation is the first of its kind under the leadership of Gelsinger, who re-joined Intel earlier this year. However, the restructuring shouldn’t come as a surprise, as he said that his decision to return to the chipmaker was partly due to the attraction of leading one of the "great turnarounds" in tech.