Intel has announced the hiring of three prominent chip industry veterans on Wednesday, as part of CEO Lip-Bu Tan’s broader plan to restructure leadership and revive the company’s competitiveness. The move aligns with Tan’s push to streamline operations, elevate engineering focus, and boost customer satisfaction in a difficult market environment.
The newly appointed executives — Srinivasan Iyengar, Jean-Didier Allegrucci, and Shailendra Desai — will take on major engineering and technical roles within the company. These hires reflect Tan’s determination to prioritize technical leadership and innovation as Intel seeks to rebuild market confidence and strengthen its foundry ambitions.
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Iyengar, formerly of Cadence Design Systems, will lead a newly created customer engineering center and report directly to Tan.
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Allegrucci, previously with Rain AI, will oversee the development of AI System-on-Chip (SoC) engineering.
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Desai, who joins from Google, will spearhead new AI chip architecture initiatives. Both Allegrucci and Desai will report to Sachin Katti, Intel’s Chief Technology and AI Officer.
Tan, who took the helm in March 2025, has been making bold changes to Intel’s organizational structure, including reducing bureaucracy by flattening leadership layers. He has also restructured the sales team by promoting Greg Ernst, a longtime Intel executive, to Chief Revenue Officer, placing him in charge of global revenue operations.
“Greg, Srini, J-D and Shailendra are highly accomplished leaders… and they will each play important roles as we position our business for the future,” Tan stated.
In addition to executive hires, Intel also reshuffled its board, aiming to bring in more semiconductor-specific expertise. Three existing board members stepped down at the company’s 2025 annual meeting, clearing space for more industry-aligned oversight.
These changes come amid ongoing financial and competitive pressures for Intel, which has struggled to regain its edge against rivals like AMD, NVIDIA, and TSMC. With a renewed emphasis on AI innovation and foundry success, Tan’s leadership marks a decisive shift toward engineering-led transformation.