Intel executive Navin Shenoy, longtime head of data center and AI operations, departs amid company restructuring.

Intel Corp. is undergoing a significant restructuring following the announcement by new Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger, who joined the company in February. Longtime Intel executive Navin Shenoy is departing the company on July 26 after more than 26 years in various senior roles, including head of the Client Computing Group. The restructuring centers on splitting Intel's Data Platform Group, one of its largest businesses by revenue, into two separate units.

Sandra Rivera will lead the new Datacenter and AI group, which will oversee the company's Xeon central processing units, field-programmable gate arrays, and artificial intelligence products. Rivera, a veteran at Intel who joined in 2000 and previously served as head of Human Resources and the Network Platforms Group, brings deep experience with data center technology and a track record of integrating the company's silicon and software portfolios, according to Gelsinger. The new Network and Edge Group will be headed by Nick McKeown, who co-founded Barefoot Networks prior to its 2019 acquisition by Intel and had been serving as a part-time fellow at the company. McKeown will join on a full-time basis next month and has founded five different networking companies while receiving more than 25 industry awards, including this year's IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal.

Two additional business units were created as part of the restructuring. Greg Lavender, former VMware Inc. Chief Technology Officer, will lead the Software and Advanced Technology Group. Raja Koduri, described by Gelsinger as "a well-known innovator in GPU computing technology," will head the new Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics Group, tasked with competing directly with Nvidia Corp. in the data center market.

Intel faces mounting competition from multiple rivals beyond Nvidia, including Arm Ltd., which Nvidia has announced plans to acquire, as well as Qualcomm Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Nvidia's graphics processing units are particularly well-suited to intensive AI processing tasks, and Nvidia has gained an advantage by providing software developers the tools to write custom code for its chips. Analyst Charles King of Pund-IT Inc. noted that Shenoy's departure is understandable, stating, "In other circumstances, he would have been a logical choice for the role that Gelsinger now holds. Shenoy's departure is understandable and whatever company he chooses will be lucky to have him." Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy noted that a flatter organization should enable faster decision-making and execution, while Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc. described the changes as a good sign that Gelsinger wants to run a more nimble and agile company.