Intel's newly appointed CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, has called for unflinching honesty from customers as he outlines plans to streamline the semiconductor giant and refocus on engineering innovation. Speaking at Intel's "Vision" event in Las Vegas, Tan emphasized a renewed commitment to collaboration with clients to address market challenges and reclaim the company's competitive edge.
Tan, who assumed leadership earlier this month, acknowledged Intel's recent struggles, including declining market share in critical sectors like data center servers, where rivals such as Nvidia have surged ahead. He revealed that customer dissatisfaction was a recurring theme during his initial meetings with stakeholders. "We fell short of expectations, but I want brutal feedback to drive real change," Tan said.
The CEO vowed to dismantle bureaucratic hurdles, prioritizing direct engagement with engineers to foster innovation. He plans to eliminate redundant middle management layers, identified in earlier reports as a barrier to agility. "Engineers and architects have brilliant ideas—they just need freedom to execute them," Tan added, highlighting weekend brainstorming sessions with technical teams.
Attracting top talent is another cornerstone of Tan's strategy. He acknowledged losing skilled engineers to competitors and pledged to rebuild Intel's workforce as a global tech leader. Analysts will watch closely to see if these reforms can reverse the company's trajectory in Asia's booming semiconductor markets.
