Word comes from AMD this afternoon that they have finally found a new Senior VP and General Manager for the company’s Computing and Graphics business group. The group has been without a GM since early this year when previous GM John Byrne left the company, with CEO Dr. Lisa Su overseeing the group on an interim basis.

After having conducted an external search, AMD has announced that they have tapped Jim Anderson to take over the group, bringing him over from Intel. Jim had in turn been with Intel for the last 7 months as the GM of the company’s Axxia communication processor business, after Intel acquired the business and Jim from LSI last year. Going farther back, before his tenure at LSI, Jim was employed at Intel as a microprocessor architect and later involved in Intel’s microprocessor strategic planning, giving him a bona fide background in the business he’s now being tapped to lead.

In their press release of the hiring, along with lauding Jim’s technical credentials, AMD has also been making it clear that they are bringing Jim on-board in order to help turn around the state of AMD’s Computing and Graphics business and improve its profitability. As the GM is responsible not only for technical matters but business and sales matters as well, AMD has been in need of someone capable of expertly handling all three aspects of the business, to which AMD believes that Jim’s “proven ability to transform businesses to drive profitable growth” makes him a good fit for the job.

Source: AMD

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  • Morawka - Monday, June 1, 2015 - link

    Man, Intel really needs a Non-Compete Clause for at least 3-4 years lol.
  • BillyONeal - Monday, June 1, 2015 - link

    In industries with small numbers of players like semiconductor design non-compete clauses have been held almost completely unenforceable; there may even be such a clause but it's unlikely Intel could do anything.
  • tgirgis - Monday, June 1, 2015 - link

    Can be if "trade secrets" can be proved. In other words, if a high level manager/executive leaves for a direct competitor, but if they can't prove that he holds any trade secrets it's not likely to be enforced. There are of course other requirements to be able to actually enforce a non compete clause, like a reasonable time frame (i.e. cannot work at a competitor for 1-2 years after leaving)

    All that said, even if they had a case, it would be a fairly high profile one as both companies have the resources and legal teams required to drag the case out, so by the time it would reach court any trade secrets would already be handed over and any "reasonable" time frame would be expired.
  • close - Tuesday, June 2, 2015 - link

    He's been with LSI and Axxia for the recent past. In this field the knowledge you might have from a few years back in another company is already expired by now. Meaning it's not cutting edge so it wouldn't offer the competition any advantage.

    He was hired for his experience not his knowledge of Intel secrets. That may be just a bonus.
  • extide - Tuesday, June 2, 2015 - link

    That would be a non-disclosure agreement, and I am sure he signed one when he got hired at Intel, and another when he got hired at AMD. THOSE are entirely enforceable, as they cover actual IP.
  • Gaugamela - Tuesday, June 2, 2015 - link

    I bet Intel made him sign an NDA. He can perform perfectly at AMD without disclosing the work that he saw being developed at Intel.
  • toothpickana - Monday, June 1, 2015 - link

    Most of these tech companies are HQ'ed in California where I would expect these executives to be living and working. Good luck with non-compete clauses there.
  • RussianSensation - Monday, June 1, 2015 - link

    You cannot be serious. Unless he is proven to have stolen trade secrets of IP design, he is free to switch jobs to any company that works in the semi-conductor space. Are you suggesting people who either lose their job or leave their job for whatever reasons have to stay unemployed for 3-4 years because they aren't allowed to seek work in any other semi-conductor/computing firm? Maybe you should think 5 seconds about how the real world works before implying such a NC agreement to be enforced.
  • Wreckage - Monday, June 1, 2015 - link

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-compete_clause
  • Timbrelaine - Monday, June 1, 2015 - link

    Yeah, even that wiki article discusses how it is incredibly difficult to enforce a broad non-compete, usually meaning one lasting longer than two years and/or one preventing a person from working in their field/industry. Enforceable NCCs usually run along the lines of "you can't try to steal our clients for a year".

    And this is ignoring that CA explicitly bans most NCCs.

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