Tuesday, April 9th 2019

Intel Soaks Up Heather Lennon, AMD RTG Digital Marketing Head

Apr 9th, 2019 02:22 Discuss (38 Comments)

Intel has hired another of AMD's top executives as Raja Koduri hopes to basically rebuild RTG under Intel's banner and its resources. This time it's Heather Lennon, who led AMD Radeon Technologies Group (RTG) marketing and had been with AMD for over 10 years. She directed the Team Red community and won PR Week award for Campaign of the Year 2014. Lennon bagged 40 awards for digital marketing for AMD, and is widely believed to be the brains behind the PR upper-hand AMD enjoys among tech forums and the DIY community.

Lennon now joins Intel as Senior Manager, Digital Marketing for Graphics, and will work closely with Mark Taylor, an ex-NVIDIA exec who now leads technical marketing at Intel Graphics. Other ex-AMD and ex-NVIDIA honchos include Chris Hook and Tom Peterson, respectively. Raja Koduri is overseeing Intel's ambitious project to make inroads to the discrete GPU market under the new Xe brand, not just to serve gamers and PC enthusiasts, but more importantly GPU compute, cloud compute, and AI markets. Koduri is also reportedly lending insights to Intel's new Gen11 integrated graphics architecture, which debuts with its 10 nm "Ice Lake" processors.

Source: Heather Lennon (Twitter)

Add your own comment

38 Comments on Intel Soaks Up Heather Lennon, AMD RTG Digital Marketing Head

nemesis.ie

Let's hope AMD replaces her with a marketing rock star. Some new blood in there might turn out to be a good thing.

It's shaping up for a lot more competition in the market which is, of course, good for us. :)

chaosmassive

one after another, when this HR snatching end?
will AMD or Nvidia do something about it to retain their employee?

notb

chaosmassiveone after another, when this HR snatching end?
will AMD or Nvidia do something about it to retain their employee?

You think they aren't trying?
People sometimes just need a change.
To be honest, working at Nvidia or Intel has to be more interesting (assuming similar money etc). More products, more markets, more cooperation with enterprise/science. It matters.

hat

Enthusiast

Man, people must just be lining up to work at Intel. It's an interesting strategy, though. They can't just buy AMD or nVidia outright, so maybe instead of that their strategy is to buy their most important employees instead. It seems like hardly a day goes by that there's not some story about some high profile employee leaving some other company to work at Intel instead. I wonder if there might be some sort of antitrust nastiness to follow?

FreedomEclipse

~Technological Technocrat~

chaosmassiveone after another, when this HR snatching end?
will AMD or Nvidia do something about it to retain their employee?

Think of Intel as Epic - they are giving these people suitcases full of money to be an Epic exclusive

Vayra86

FreedomEclipseThink of Intel as Epic - they are giving these people suitcases full of money to be an Epic exclusive

Nope, its not just money. Same with Epic, its not just about money, its about a healthy marketplace, about restoring a certain balance and fixing some unwanted things that seeped in over time.

Its real simple, there's a gap to be filled, so it gets filled. In both cases. That is how markets always work.

hat

Enthusiast

I'm sure Intel isn't interested in doing anything that doesn't benefit Intel. Anything else is just a side effect. Much like Epic is doing what they do to make themselves money. I don't think it has anything to do with improving the market.

Vayra86

hatI'm sure Intel isn't interested in doing anything that doesn't benefit Intel. Anything else is just a side effect. Much like Epic is doing what they do to make themselves money. I don't think it has anything to do with improving the market.

Improving the market and making money are not mutually exclusive, quite the opposite - unless you're leading/owning it. The real commercial successes are win-win situations.

hat

Enthusiast

Sure, the only point I'm making is that Intel (or Epic) aren't doing it for the market. If they do something which happens to help the market, then great, but Intel is thinking about helping Intel, and Epic is thinking about helping Epic. Everything else is just a side effect.

#10

Vayra86

hatSure, the only point I'm making is that Intel (or Epic) aren't doing it for the market. If they do something which helps the market, then great, but Intel is thinking about helping Intel, and Epic is thinking about helping Epic. Everything else is just a side effect.

We don't disagree but I still don't think you get my point here. The reason Epic can do what it does is because somebody left a gap for them to fill. So its not just Epic and suitcases of money, it is a demand that needed answering. GPU has much the same issue. We all complained for years about Nvidia's market domination. It is thát and only that, plus AMD's failure to make a dent, that enabled the business case for Intel's discrete GPU project. The way they staff that only further underlines this.

Of course its all about making money. Question is how and who benefits in the long run. Only with answers to those questions can a company say 'we are going to make money in the future'.

#11

NdMk2o1o

Vayra86Nope, its not just money. Same with Epic, its not just about money, its about a healthy marketplace, about restoring a certain balance and fixing some unwanted things that seeped in over time.

Its real simple, there's a gap to be filled, so it gets filled. In both cases. That is how markets always work.

You really think Intel care about a healthy market or restoring balance? OK Luke Skywalker :laugh: They would happily take a much of the market as they could and that's what they intend to do, whether that's 5,10,50 or even 90+% they care about nothing else other than their profits.

It's likely anyway that whatever they put out will have a lot of ip from amd, which will help amd out, probably not so much nvidia since the last licensing deal they had with them for their IGP expired wasn't renewed.

#12

kings

I don´t know why some people are so "upset" with all those hiring recently, we all win if Intel gets into the GPU market well.

Or do people prefer an Nvidia with 85% market share and an AMD with increasingly difficult to follow?

A third player is more than welcome and if Intel needs to buy the experience, so be it.

#13

R0H1T

It's mildly concerning because of their past, Intel tried to enter mobile space & literally blew dollar bills to get into phones driving away the likes of mediatek & other smaller ARM vendors from much needed design wins. The thing is mobile space was too much for them to handle & they really couldn't lock phone makers into their ecosystem unlike DC & servers, besides Apple & Samsung are 10x bigger than Intel. If they try anything similar here, it will be good for consumers only in the short term. Because we all know what such tactics lead to in the end, let's hope Intel play fair that's all.

#14

Vayra86

NdMk2o1oYou really think Intel care about a healthy market or restoring balance? OK Luke Skywalker :laugh: They would happily take a much of the market as they could and that's what they intend to do, whether that's 5,10,50 or even 90+% they care about nothing else other than their profits.

It's likely anyway that whatever they put out will have a lot of ip from amd, which will help amd out, probably not so much nvidia since the last licensing deal they had with them for their IGP expired wasn't renewed.

No, that is not what I said, and clarified... I don't think Intel cares about a healthy market, but it is the vehicle they need to gain a meaningful share. And that is the win-win in this example. We are the ones eagerly awaiting Intel's next GPU move, this is a demand that Intel is answering.

#15

mtcn77

Just imagine, they are going to promote a 660Ti instead of the Iris Pro. Companies never miss the opportunity to ship a value mismatched product, so in the end it will just replace Nvidia marketing efforts...

#16

Caring1

nemesis.ieLet's hope AMD replaces her with a marketing rock star. Some new blood in there might turn out to be a good thing.

It's shaping up for a lot more competition in the market which is, of course, good for us. :)

Chances are, as the head of Marketing, she claimed all the glory while her subordinates did all the hard work.

#17

TristanX

Intel Xe will be more focussed on computing and AI than gaming. Intel need to compete with NV on servers and supercomputers than kids that want good graphics card for 200$.

#18

overvolted

nemesis.ieLet's hope AMD replaces her with a marketing rock star. Some new blood in there might turn out to be a good thing.

It's shaping up for a lot more competition in the market which is, of course, good for us. :)

I agree. If it's anything in my opinion that has hurt AMD the most (aside from a few product disappointments in the past which happen) it's definitely their marketing.
You have to engage more with the public...or the public will not be engaged at all. And this is especially true now where they are making processors that actually perform well.

#19

kastriot

It's only bussiness.

#20

sergionography

chaosmassiveone after another, when this HR snatching end?
will AMD or Nvidia do something about it to retain their employee?

Perhaps pay their employees better? Allow for growth within the company? Its easier said than done. The reality is that individuals are always looking for better opportunities, and with intel being new to the gpu game; the potential available positions are vast. This is good for AMD and Nvidia as well as that opens up positions for promotion within these companies as well. Im sure they have excellent engineers that are more than capable of these higher positions but been stuck due to lack of open positions.

#21

medi01

Don't care about AMD marketing people.

#22

juiseman

Man, who is next Lisa Su?

#23

eidairaman1

The Exiled Airman

Vayra86Nope, its not just money. Same with Epic, its not just about money, its about a healthy marketplace, about restoring a certain balance and fixing some unwanted things that seeped in over time.

Its real simple, there's a gap to be filled, so it gets filled. In both cases. That is how markets always work.

Intel and morals?

1/8192 morals

its money being thrown at them, nothing more or less...

juisemanMan, who is next Lisa Su?

:kookoo::slap:

Head of AMD, nope

#24

Xaled

If Intel is joining the discrete GPU market just to get a share of the crypto-mining thing, why even bother with the marketing stuff? Oh wait the Nvidia fan army will do anything to calumniate Intel's cards! Even in mining!

#25

sergionographyPerhaps pay their employees better? Allow for growth within the company? Its easier said than done. The reality is that individuals are always looking for better opportunities, and with intel being new to the gpu game; the potential available positions are vast. This is good for AMD and Nvidia as well as that opens up positions for promotion within these companies as well. Im sure they have excellent engineers that are more than capable of these higher positions but been stuck due to lack of open positions.

I believe that this and more money are the two primary reasons of the exodus. Most people will always do what is best for their career. Also, they all know that this isn't a permanent move; they can always come back to AMD 8 years later because it's nothing personal.

Add your own comment

Intel Soaks Up Heather Lennon, AMD RTG Digital Marketing Head

38 Comments on Intel Soaks Up Heather Lennon, AMD RTG Digital Marketing Head

Latest GPU Drivers

New Forum Posts

Popular Reviews

Controversial News Posts

Intel Soaks Up Heather Lennon, AMD RTG Digital Marketing Head

Related News

38 Comments on Intel Soaks Up Heather Lennon, AMD RTG Digital Marketing Head

Latest GPU Drivers

New Forum Posts

Popular Reviews

Controversial News Posts