Intel has appointed former SK Hynix CEO Seok-Hee Lee to a key foundry leadership role. The move underscores Intel's commitment to expanding manufacturing capabilities and strengthening its position in the highly competitive global semiconductor industry. Separately, Intel announced that Executive Vice President Navid Shahriari will retire after a 37-year career with the company.
Lee joins Intel from battery manufacturer SK On, where he served as president and CEO. Reporting directly to CEO Lip-Bu Tan, Lee will oversee advanced packaging technologies, back-end manufacturing, system integration, and related technology development efforts.
"Seok-Hee brings deep expertise in leading complex, high-scale technology and manufacturing organizations, along with a strong track record of operational execution,” Tan said in a statement.
The move reflects Intel’s growing focus on advanced packaging as a critical component of next-generation computing systems, particularly for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing applications.
“Seok-Hee’s insights will help Intel further strengthen our system integration capabilities, allowing us to tightly couple leading-edge logic, memory, networking, and other components to build high-performance computing systems for Intel Foundry customers,” Tan added.
“He is the right leader to build and scale this critical part of the Intel Foundry business as we prepare to ramp advanced packaging technologies, including EMIB-T and HBI, to high volume for customers and partners,” Tan said.
Meanwhile, Naga Chandrasekaran will continue leading front-end technology development and manufacturing efforts, including the ramp-up of Intel’s 18A and 14A process technologies. He will also retain responsibility for customer-facing and business enablement functions within Intel Foundry.
Lee earned a bachelor's degree in materials science and engineering from Seoul National University and a doctorate in engineering from Stanford University. He also worked at Intel as an engineer from 2000 to 2010 before taking on leadership roles in South Korea. He previously led memory chipmaker SK hynix and brings decades of semiconductor manufacturing and technology expertise.
“Intel is uniquely positioned to lead in advanced packaging as demand for system-level integration accelerates across AI and high-performance computing,” said Lee. “I’m excited to return home and to join the Intel team as we help advance the company’s technology leadership, manufacturing capabilities, and customer commitments in this critical area,” he added.
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This new, focused, and scalable operating model reinforces Intel’s commitment to strengthening its technology development and manufacturing engine, giving customers and partners greater confidence in Intel’s ability to deliver with speed, consistency, and predictability.
Opportunities and challenges exist in the foundry division of Intel due to increased demand for high-end chips. With capable leadership, enhanced production capacity, and an emphasis on innovation, Intel hopes to cement its footing in the fiercely competitive semiconductor industry.