AMD Bleeds Three Top Execs

[btarunr]

In its latest 8-K filing form, AMD mentions a vastly different top-brass, indicating that three of its top executives left the company, in what is the biggest corporate shakeups in the ailing company's history. These include John Bryne, GM of Computing and Graphics Business Group (the person overseeing the company's core CPU and GPU businesses); Colette LaForce, Chief Marketing Officer; and Raj Naik, Chief Strategy Officer.

The most notable departure is that of Bryne, who was promoted to his post from being Chief Sales Officer just 7 months ago. LaForce was hired to her post in 2012, she held the same position in Dell before joining AMD. Naik joined the company around the same time as LaForce. AMD announced these changes, stating: "These changes, including the additions of Forrest Norrod and James Clifford to our management team last quarter, collectively are part of implementing an optimal organization design and leadership team to further sharpen our execution and position AMD for growth."



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[bpgt64]

Good riddance, Red team need some winners. Healthy competition the CPU/GPU market is good for all.

 

[Mathragh]

Regarding John Byrne in particular:
I won't call it good riddance, as I don't have a clue about whatever he did behind the screens.
However, after seeing the man in the flesh in some of his videos I've had some strong doubts regarding the suitability of his role.

 

[BiggieShady]

If you ask me, much better than bleeding engineers like they did so far.

 

[Jorge]

It's simply the process of finding the right people to move the company forward and deliver the products that customer's desire. Different people have different strengths and AMD needs people who can achieve the desired goals. Let's hope the new people are willing and able.

 

[HisDivineOrder]

I don't think it's a coincidence that it's happening right as 2015 begins and just after Rory's on his way out.

I think they're skipping on out before the fireworks begin much the same way Rory's abandoning ship. Looks like he and his team decided nothing can be done, so it's everyone for the lifeboats asap.

 

[Mathragh]

I don't think it's a coincidence that it's happening right as 2015 begins and just after Rory's on his way out.

I think they're skipping on out before the fireworks begin much the same way Rory's abandoning ship. Looks like he and his team decided nothing can be done, so it's everyone for the lifeboats asap.

That, or Su is just doing what she thinks will work best for the company. I'm getting the impression that she is trying to cut the bull, maybe these people didnt really fit into that policy.

 

[Steevo]

Intel did it last year, but used PR spin, every company does it.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/01/17/technology/intel-jobs/

That grumpy old asshole in the corner who does his bids on paper and doesn't carry a cell phone? He has made the choice to pursue other career opportunities.

What it really means is he was given a cell phone, laptop and the instructions to use them or turn in his resignation for severance pay.


EDIT: I really believe AMD stands a much better chance as a more segmented company, revive their ability to be great at individual products instead of good at all, master of none.

Make money selling their IP and designs to other companies. I like this one most of all, start selling their IP and designs, use their engineering team and allow the extra income to get more and better minds working together for their benefit, and the benefit of the customers.

Or go back to making Intel clones that work with Intel chip-sets, spin off the graphics division, and let themselves become what they were that got them to the point they were at.

 

[RejZoR]

Maybe it was a good thing they left. Till now, AMD felt like they are limping behind competition and the execs who always brag how they are responsible for all successes did nothing to improve things.

I frankly don't care who the execs are. They are just men in ties shuffling the money. I'm more interested in those who are actually the brains behind their products. Like the newly re-hired legendary Jim Keller. These are the people to admire and are probably paid less than they should be.

 

[GhostRyder]

More surprised that Bryne is gone but I guess times are changing. They really need a new marketing exec more than anything so I am glad to see some changes in that area because in all honesty they have been lacking in that area for quite some time.

 

[buildzoid]

Or go back to making Intel clones that work with Intel chip-sets, spin off the graphics division, and let themselves become what they were that got them to the point they were at.

That's no longer an option because AMD always reverse engineered intel CPUs today that would take years and years to do because of how many transistors there are.

 

[xorbe]

That, or Su is just doing what she thinks will work best for the company. I'm getting the impression that she is trying to cut the bull, maybe these people didnt really fit into that policy.

Same impression here.

 

[RejZoR]

That's no longer an option because AMD always reverse engineered intel CPUs today that would take years and years to do because of how many transistors there are.

That's the biggest load of drivel I've read this year. The only thing that was ever reverse-engineered was the AM9080 CPU chip (Intel 8080 clone). And even the AM9080 was officially licensed at a later time. And even if you license a technology or reverse engineer it from someone, that doesn't mean you've copied their design.

 

[Steevo]

That's the biggest load of drivel I've read this year. The only thing that was ever reverse-engineered was the AM9080 CPU chip (Intel 8080 clone). And even the AM9080 was officially licensed at a later time. And even if you license a technology or reverse engineer it from someone, that doesn't mean you've copied their design.

No, AMD did it for awhile, not making an exact replica of the Intel offerings, but enough that they could use their designs as the basis of their own, then the product development cycle became too fast and the shrinking size of the circuits made it an issue. But we can look at dies now with electron microscopes or extreme high res (90MP) and see the layout.

 

[Pehla]

Maybe it was a good thing they left. Till now, AMD felt like they are limping behind competition and the execs who always brag how they are responsible for all successes did nothing to improve things.

I frankly don't care who the execs are. They are just men in ties shuffling the money. I'm more interested in those who are actually the brains behind their products. Like the newly re-hired legendary Jim Keller. These are the people to admire and are probably paid less than they should be.

i could not agree with you more RejZoR....im just wondering what did those people that leave acomplish???
the are not going to get beter paycheck somewhere else just like that...,instead they could try making things beter....where can they go?? intel?? im not sure intel would wont ppl who didnt do shit for their previus company!!there are thousends of other ppl wiling to take their place....so its their loss...

 

[HumanSmoke]

Regarding John Byrne in particular:
I won't call it good riddance, as I don't have a clue about whatever he did behind the screens.

John Byrne is a big loss. The other two might be closer to the "who cares" category - especially the marketing officer, given AMD's lack of visibility with OEM contracts.
As I noted in another thread, Byrne - apart from just being promoted, was the public face of the Carrizo launch as well as AMD's "go to" guy at CES as little as two days ago.

It's simply the process of finding the right people to move the company forward and deliver the products that customer's desire.

Y'know Jorge, sooner or later, even you must face the facts that the never ending revolving door of bodies going through AMD and the ever worsening situation is down to the people at the top of the organization - the ones not leaving - the ones not being fired...the ones collecting their directorship compensation packages.

Oh, and BTW, John Byrne jumped ship - he wasn't let go by AMD.

That's the biggest load of drivel I've read this year. The only thing that was ever reverse-engineered was the AM9080 CPU chip (Intel 8080 clone). And even the AM9080 was officially licensed at a later time. And even if you license a technology or reverse engineer it from someone, that doesn't mean you've copied their design.

Revisionist rubbish.
AMD infringed of Intel's EPROM (Settled in the second source agreement for the 8085) and AMD attempted to reverse engineer a 286 (project cancelled), and AMD reverse engineered their 486 which cost them $58m in damages in their multi-suit legal wrangling settled in 1995 (specifically targeted, the in-circuit emulator of the processor).

 

[erocker]

Hopefully they put that money into engineers.

 

[RCoon]

Hopefully they put that money into engineers.

All I ever saw was a lot of marketing about amazing things, and then the engineers produced something that didn't quite match up to the marketing teams "imagination". Hopefully both departments can finally start working on the same thing for once. I'd like to see another generation like 680 vs 7970. Those were pretty good times for both companies.

 

[HumanSmoke]

Hopefully they put that money into engineers.

Yeah right. I think you'll find that AMD are earmarking funds to stop others from jumping ship. Mark Papermaster and Devinder Kumar for example have been given extra stock options as retention incentives according to the latest filings. I don't think the retention incentives stop there - either with stock, or just these two execs.

All I ever saw was a lot of marketing about amazing things, and then the engineers produced something that didn't quite match up to the marketing teams "imagination".

That I think is more down to marketing, management, and software development fail.
Generally speaking, AMD's engineers deliver a first class product. What is third class is pushing out products with limited support from the software stack. Both the HD 7970 and 7990 released with piss poor driver support at the most important point of the products cycle - the launch- where it would be pitted against rivals. Even amongst rabid/avid AMD loyalists, it is almost taken for granted that AMD delivers a miracle/performance driver (i.e. one it should have launched with) ~ 6 months after the product launched. A point in time where gains from marketing and PR are minimal compared with the initial launch.

 

[Jorge]

It's sad to see the ignorance and hate displayed in some of the comments here, especially when few if any of those commenting know the circumstances of the change in personnel at AMD. The bottom line is that Lisa Su has to do what she feels is best for the company and it's customers. Let's hope she's right. She would not be the first AMD CEO to be replaced due to struggling sales or the inability of GloFo to bring products to market in a timely manner. Maybe the new guys Norrod and Clifford will bring good results at AMD?

 

[Vayra86]

It's sad to see the ignorance and hate displayed in some of the comments here, especially when few if any of those commenting know the circumstances of the change in personnel at AMD. The bottom line is that Lisa Su has to do what she feels is best for the company and it's customers. Let's hope she's right. She would not be the first AMD CEO to be replaced due to struggling sales or the inability of GloFo to bring products to market in a timely manner. Maybe the new guys Norrod and Clifford will bring good results at AMD?

I do think most people here realize that we NEED AMD for a healthy market. I don't really see the ignorance and hate either to be honest. What I do see is a lot of people who know AMD's track record of failure upon failure and how they managed to turn first class products into bad business. So it is not surprising that people, including myself, have their reservations.

 

[Thefumigator]

Or go back to making Intel clones that work with Intel chip-sets, spin off the graphics division, and let themselves become what they were that got them to the point they were at.

The Athlon Slot A made them to the point they were
The Opteron 64 was a big hit
The AMD 5x86 in the early 90s was faster than a pentium and it was like 3 times cheaper.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

Yeah right. I think you'll find that AMD are earmarking funds to stop others from jumping ship. Mark Papermaster and Devinder Kumar for example have been given extra stock options as retention incentives according to the latest filings. I don't think the retention incentives stop there - either with stock, or just these two execs.

That I think is more down to marketing, management, and software development fail.
Generally speaking, AMD's engineers deliver a first class product. What is third class is pushing out products with limited support from the software stack. Both the HD 7970 and 7990 released with piss poor driver support at the most important point of the products cycle - the launch- where it would be pitted against rivals. Even amongst rabid/avid AMD loyalists, it is almost taken for granted that AMD delivers a miracle/performance driver (i.e. one it should have launched with) ~ 6 months after the product launched. A point in time where gains from marketing and PR are minimal compared with the initial launch.

This. The driver support is what kept me from buying either a 6900 series or the 290x. And premature driver termination burned me on my last AMD laptop, where the hybrid graphics were forced, breaking performance with any game that didnt like having two different cards in crossfire.

 

[HumanSmoke]

The Athlon Slot A made them to the point they were
The Opteron 64 was a big hit
The AMD 5x86 in the early 90s was faster than a pentium and it was like 3 times cheaper.

Almost ALL that success was purchased.
AMD's K6? The original K6 project went tits up. AMD purchased NexGen and used their Nx686 as the basis for the K6
AMD Athlon (K7)? AMD licenced DEC's system bus and hired the DEC Alpha team (Dirk Meyer et al) to design the K7, along with DEC's Jim Keller who was instrumental in putting together HyperTransport
Athlon64 (K8) Also based on DEC's work (along with AMD's own design chief, Fred Weber of course) with David Cutler and Robert Short (both then working for Microsoft) instrumental in getting AMD64 up and running.

The difference back then was that there were a lot more processor IHV's in play - many failing ( Cyrix, NexGen, C&T, DEC), and IP and talent could be readily purchased if your own in-house projects met with failure. That isn't the case now with x86.

 

[Schmuckley]

More engineers! Less Executives!