In yet another sign that Intel’s efforts to rebuild its engineering corps might be swift under the new incoming CEO, Intel announced today that Sunil Shenoy, a 33-year Intel veteran who left the company in 2014, will be returning to the company as the senior vice president and general manager of the Design Engineering Group.
News that Pat Gelsinger, Intel’s incoming CEO, would return to the company has sparked optimism among the rank and file as the company seeks to return to its deep technological roots with an engineer at the helm.
Word of Gelsinger’s return has already inspired Glenn Hinton, an Intel Senior Fellow, to return to the company. That was apparently just the beginning, and Gelsinger recently remarked that “you’ll be seeing other announcements of key leaders coming back in,” which has come to quick fruition with the announcement that Shenoy will return after a seven-year hiatus.
Gelsinger is also attracting other talent, too: Guido Appenzeller, who hails from VMware, also announced via Twitter and Linkedin that he is joining Intel as the CTO of the Data Platforms Group. Appenzeller previously worked under Gelsinger at VMware.
Sunil Shenoy returns to Intel from his position at SiFive, where he was the senior vice president and general manager of its RISC-V program. Sunil previously served at Intel as the corporate vice president in charge of Intel’s Platform Engineering Group, where his remit included microprocessor and SoC design across Intel’s product groups. He also led the Visual and Parallel Computing Group and server and PC silicon development R&D and engineering, among other responsibilities.
Shenoy lists ‘setting in place a culture and system for reliable product execution in synch with process technology (the Tick-Tock cadence model)’ among his accomplishments.
Shenoy’s new responsibilities will overlap somewhat with those of the now-departed Jim Keller, but he technically replaces Josh Walden, who had led the group on an interim basis since July (shortly after Keller’s departure). Walden will return to his full-time leadership position over Intel’s Product Assurance and Security (IPAS) and Security Architecture and Engineering (SAE) organizations.
Gelsinger has struck a confident tone said the company remains committed to re-establishing its lead in process node technology, saying he’s “not interested in closing the gaps…but being the unquestioned leader in process technology.” Bringing back experienced leaders like Shenoy is a solid step in that direction.
“Sunil is a proven engineering leader who has deep experience in microprocessor and SoC design and R&D,” said current Intel CEO Bob Swan. “His experience inside and outside of Intel will enable him to combine the best of Intel culture with an entrepreneurial spirit and fresh perspective as we work to strengthen the company’s technical leadership team and to coach and develop a new generation of technical talent.”
Shenoy holds a master’s degree in computer engineering from Syracuse University and an MBA from the University of Oregon. He also holds 16 patents in computer and microprocessor technology.
Shenoy returns on February 1, 2021. He will report to departing Intel CEO Bob Swan for now, and then report directly to Gelsinger when he takes over on February 15, 2021.