Lip-Bu Tan was appointed chief executive officer of Intel Corporation in March 2025. He also serves on the company's board of directors.
Lip-Bu Tan
There’s a new sheriff in town at Intel, and his name is Lip-Bu Tan, a seasoned semiconductor veteran stepping into the CEO role. He will be charged with steering the beleaguered chipmaker back toward a more sustainable financial future. Tan, the former CEO of Cadence Design Systems and founder of venture capital firm Walden International, will take the helm effective March 18. His appointment comes at a critical inflection point for Intel’s R&D division, which has struggled with process node delays and diminishing returns on its traditional CPU-centric universe.
Tan is a scientist by training. With a master’s degree in nuclear engineering from MIT and a physics background, Tan brings rare materials science expertise to Intel’s leadership. His prior employment history holds clues to what he might do at Intel. During his 12-year tenure at Cadence, Tan transformed the electronic design automation (EDA) company’s research priorities, more than doubling revenue. Specifically, under Tan’s leadership, Cadence shifted from purely software-focused R&D to developing comprehensive design platforms that integrated advanced AI algorithms, cloud computing, and system-level optimization tools. This strategic overhaul enabled chip designers to tackle complex verification challenges while simultaneously reducing time-to-market.
Scientific expertise meets R&D leadership
Tan’s scientific background in nuclear engineering and physics uniquely positions him to address Intel’s technical challenges. As a materials science expert, he could bring fresh perspectives to Intel’s semiconductor research, potentially accelerating innovation in areas where the company has fallen behind competitors. His hands-on understanding of the physics underlying chip design could help Intel overcome its recent manufacturing difficulties and process node delays. This scientific foundation may also inform more ambitious research directions, pushing Intel beyond incremental improvements to explore breakthrough technologies.
Transforming R&D culture: Lessons from Cadence
A core element of Tan’s success at Cadence was his embrace of a customer-centric approach. His focus on building integrated platforms rather than just point software tools was also key. The latter allowed Cadence to become embedded in customer workflows and solve broader system-level design challenges. This experience could prove helpful at Intel, which also needs to become more customer-focused to better compete against rivals. He also empowered engineers at Cadence, fostering a culture where bold ideas were rewarded.
When Tan was at Cadence, he successfully championed cultural overhauls, rewarding bold engineering proposals and reducing red tape. This management approach could revitalize Intel’s R&D division, which has been criticized for bureaucratic processes that slow innovation. By implementing similar cultural changes at Intel, Tan might create an environment where researchers are encouraged to take calculated risks and pursue groundbreaking projects rather than incremental improvements.
Strategic R&D investments: The investor’s perspective
Tan is also an investor and has financially backed over 85 semiconductor firms through Walden International. His documented frustrations with Intel’s “bloated workforce” and “slow decision-making” while serving on its board from 2022–2024 signal a likely restructuring of Intel’s research organization. The company is already slimming down. Last year, it shed more than 15,000 workers.
His venture capital background could significantly influence how Intel allocates its R&D resources. Having invested in dozens of semiconductor startups, Tan brings a unique perspective on emerging technologies and market trends. This experience might lead to more targeted R&D investments at Intel, focusing resources on high-potential areas while discontinuing less promising projects. Tan’s VC mindset could also introduce more rigorous evaluation metrics for research initiatives, ensuring they demonstrate clear paths to commercialization.
Refocusing Intel Labs: Potential new research priorities
Intel’s Labs division, which employs over 1,000 researchers across neuromorphic computing, quantum technologies, and advanced materials, could see its priorities shift from incremental improvements in silicon-based architectures toward more forward-thinking technologies. Under Tan’s leadership, Intel Research could potentially recalibrate its focus toward application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) for emerging workloads like large language models, quantum computing hardware, and novel memory architectures. The “Loihi” neuromorphic research chip program, which has demonstrated energy efficiencies 1,000 times better than conventional architectures for certain AI workloads, could receive expanded resources as Tan seeks technologies with clear differentiation potential.
Board insights driving structural changes
In his board role, Tan has advocated for a more “fabless-like” approach to chip design within Intel. This strategy highlights his push for clearer accountability by separating design and manufacturing while retaining vertical integration benefits. Intel’s board chair at the time of appointment, Frank D. Yeary, stated that Tan’s technology industry expertise, deep relationships across the product and foundry ecosystems, and proven track record of creating shareholder value make him “exactly what Intel needs in its next CEO,” as Intel noted in a press release. As a board member, Tan’s duties expanded in late 2023 to encompass the oversight of manufacturing operations, giving him firsthand visibility into the execution issues plaguing Intel’s advanced fabrication processes.
Additionally, Tan will guide Intel’s mergers and acquisitions (he previously sat on the board’s M&A committee, as Intel noted when adding him to its board) and partnerships, leveraging his broad industry network. His responsibilities also include addressing internal issues like organizational efficiency and company culture, which are seen as barriers to Intel’s agility. In short, Tan’s role spans technological leadership (guiding R&D and engineering), financial stewardship (returning Intel to profitable growth), and strategic direction (market positioning and ecosystem alliances).
In announcing the news, the Intel board explicitly cited Tan’s “technology industry expertise, deep ecosystem relationships and significant public company board experience” as qualities that would bring valuable perspective to Intel.