Sachin Katti is announced the CTO and AI Chief for Intel

Intel has announced the appointment of Sachin Katti as its new Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and AI Chief, marking a pivotal leadership shift as the company accelerates its focus on artificial intelligence. The move comes under the leadership of newly appointed CEO Lip-Bu Tan, and reflects Intel’s broader reorganisation strategy aimed at simplifying internal processes and centralising innovation.

Katti’s elevation to this dual leadership role represents a significant moment for Intel. Previously leading the company’s networking and edge computing division, Katti brings deep technical expertise and industry insight that will now shape Intel’s AI strategy, product development, and the direction of Intel Labs. His new responsibilities include managing Intel’s relationships with startups, developer communities, and external innovation ecosystems—an area seen as critical to Intel's competitive resurgence.

The Intel AI strategy under Katti will now enjoy direct representation at the top level of company leadership. This stands in contrast to previous organisational structures where AI initiatives were managed as a sub-unit within Intel’s data centre group, limiting their strategic visibility and autonomy. The reorganisation aims to correct this by aligning AI development with core company goals and empowering it with dedicated leadership.

This appointment comes at a crucial time as Intel faces growing pressure from rivals like NVIDIA and AMD in the AI hardware space. By placing a seasoned expert like Sachin Katti at the helm, Intel is signaling its commitment to reclaiming leadership in AI innovation and ensuring its next generation of processors and AI accelerators meet the evolving demands of cloud computing, edge AI, and enterprise workloads.

In addition to Katti’s appointment, Tan has flattened Intel’s organisational structure to give key technical leaders direct access to the CEO. Rob Bruckner, Mike Hurley, and Lisa Pearce—leaders of major divisions including client architecture, silicon engineering, and GPU/NPU IP—will now report directly to Tan, bypassing previous management layers.

With Katti driving the company’s technical vision, Intel is expected to sharpen its competitive edge and reassert its role as a key player in the global AI landscape.