Lisa Su, the CEO of AMD, was born in Tainan, Taiwan in 1969 and moved to New York City with her family at a young age. She studied electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and stood out not only for her technical talent but also for her ability to handle interpersonal conflicts. After working at Texas Instruments, Su joined IBM in 1995 and played a significant role in the design of chips using copper circuitry, which led to a 20% increase in performance. Her exceptional work caught the attention of IBM’s CEO, Lou Gerstner, who appointed her as his technical assistant.
During her time at IBM, Su witnessed a corporate turnaround and gained experience in dealmaking. In 2011, she was recruited by Nick Donofrio, an AMD board member whom she had met at IBM, to join AMD as a senior vice president. Just two years later, she became the CEO of the company, becoming the first female CEO of a major semiconductor company.
Under Su’s leadership, AMD experienced a remarkable resurgence and became a major player in the semiconductor industry. She focused on rebuilding the company’s business and increasing its competitiveness in the market. Su also invested heavily in research and development, increasing the company’s R&D spending to $5 billion. She pursued strategic acquisitions, including the $48.8 billion takeover of Xilinx in 2022, to bolster AMD’s capabilities and counter emerging threats.
One of the key challenges Su faces is competing with Nvidia in the AI chip market. She aims to differentiate AMD by focusing on annual chip upgrades and leveraging the company’s technical expertise. Additionally, she is leading the development of the MI300 chip, which combines CPUs and GPUs to rival Nvidia’s superchips. Despite the emergence of competitors, Su remains confident in AMD’s ability to maintain its position and believes that customers will struggle to replicate AMD’s entire ecosystem.
While Su has achieved great success in revitalizing AMD, she recognizes the ongoing need to ensure the company’s enduring legacy. She believes there is another phase for AMD, where the company must prove its greatness and continue making significant contributions to the world.