Chipmaker Intel has announced the appointment of Indian American technocrat Dr. Naga Chandrasekaran as chief global operations officer, executive vice president and general manager of Intel Foundry Manufacturing and Supply Chain organization. He succeeds Keyvan Esfarjani, who has decided to retire from the company after nearly 30 years. Esfarjani, however, will remain with Intel through the end of the year to ensure a seamless transition.
Chandrasekaran boasts of an impressive academic record. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Madras; both a master’s and a doctorate degree in mechanical engineering from Oklahoma State University; a master’s degree in information and data science from the University of California, Berkeley; and dual executive MBAs from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA-Anderson School of Management) and the National University of Singapore.
He will join Intel on August 12 and will be a member of Intel’s executive leadership team and report to CEO Pat Gelsinger, the company said.
Chandrasekaran will be responsible for Intel Foundry’s worldwide manufacturing operations, including Fab Sort Manufacturing, Assembly Test Manufacturing, strategic planning for Intel Foundry, corporate quality assurance and supply chain.
Reacting to his appointment, Gelsinger said: “Naga is a highly accomplished executive whose deep semiconductor manufacturing and technology development expertise will be a tremendous addition to our team.”
Welcome to Team @Intel, Naga! Looking forward to our work together as we continue building the world’s first systems foundry for the AI era. And a huge thank you to Keyvan for your decades of leadership and impact throughout your incredible Intel career! https://t.co/5Sd48kfugm
— Pat Gelsinger (@PGelsinger) July 29, 2024
“As we continue to build a globally resilient semiconductor supply chain and create the world’s first systems foundry for the AI era, Naga’s leadership will help us to accelerate our progress and capitalize on the significant long-term growth opportunities ahead,” the Intel boss added.
Before this, he worked at Micron, where he spent more than 20 years, serving in various senior leadership roles. He also led Micron’s global technology development and engineering efforts related to the scaling of current memory technologies, advanced packaging technology and emerging technology solutions.
Previously, he served as Micron’s senior vice president of Process R&D and Operations. His experience spans the breadth of semiconductor manufacturing and R&D, including process and equipment development, device technology, mask technology and more.
“Dr. Chandrasekaran will work closely with the other Intel Foundry leaders: Dr. Ann Kelleher, executive vice president and general manager, Foundry Technology Development; Kevin O’Buckley, senior vice president and general manager of Foundry Services; and Lorenzo Flores, chief financial officer of Intel Foundry. Together, this team brings a breadth of foundry business and technical leadership experience that will help Intel achieve its goal of creating the first systems foundry for the AI era,” an official news release stated.
