Intel is undertaking a series of leadership and organisational changes, with president Renee James stepping down to pursue an external CEO role.Intel has advised that James, who has been with the company for 28 years, informed the board she will be stepping down as president, having agreed to remain at Intel until January to transition the executive office.
James was elected president of Intel in May 2013 at the same time as Brian Krzanich was elected chief executive officer.
“When Brian and I were appointed to our current roles, I knew then that being the leader of a company was something that I desired as part of my own leadership journey,” James stated in a letter to employees. “Now is the right time for me to take that next step.”
Intel has also announced that Arvind Sodhani, Intel Capital president, will retire in January after 35 years with the company, with Wendell Brooks, president of mergers and acquisitions, to take on an expanded role in also becoming Intel Capital president. Executives Hermann Eul and Mike Bell will also leave the company after a transition period.
Meanwhile, Intel’s Security organisation, formerly the independent McAfee division, has been formally integrated into Intel operations under the leadership of general manager Chris Young.
Intel Communication and Devices Group general manager Aicha Evans has been elevated to the company’s management committee, while Josh Walden, general manager of Intel’s New Technology Group, now leads all product and research teams creating and deploying new technology categories, including interactive computing devices, perceptual computing and wearable devices.
Krzanich stated Intel is aligning its leadership structure “to continue to become more efficient” to deliver the benefits of its strategy “even faster than before”.
“Over the past 28 years, Renee has contributed immeasurably to Intel,” Krzanich commented on James’ decision to step down. “On behalf of the board and management team, we sincerely thank Renee for her tireless efforts toward building the business that we have today, and we fully support her in this decision.”
