Intel Strengthens Foundry Division: Former SK hynix CEO to Lead Advanced Packaging
Intel has announced the appointment of Seok-Hee Lee as Executive Vice President of Intel Foundry. The manager, who previously served as president and CEO of both SK hynix and SK On, will report directly to CEO Lip-Bu Tan and will be responsible for all activities related to advanced packaging, system integration, back-end technology development, and the associated manufacturing.
This addition strengthens Intel's Foundry division, but it also fits into a broader reorganization process initiated by Intel in recent months. The company has indeed decided to transform advanced packaging into a dedicated business unit with its own leadership, recognizing its increasingly central role in the development of next-generation platforms.
Seok-Hee Lee joins Intel as EVP, @Intel_Foundry, to lead advanced packaging and back-end manufacturing, strengthening our ability to deliver system-level innovation. Naga Chandrasekaran will continue to lead front-end technology development, manufacturing, design enablement,…
In recent years, packaging has shifted from being a final phase of the production process to being one of the key elements to enhance performance and energy efficiency of systems. The increasing prevalence of heterogeneous architectures, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing, indeed requires ever tighter integration of logic chips, memories, accelerators, and networking components within the same package.
According to Lip-Bu Tan, Lee's experience in managing complex manufacturing organizations will be crucial in strengthening the system integration capabilities of Intel Foundry. The goal is to enable the company to combine different components more efficiently and offer customers complete system-level solutions.
The appointment comes at a particularly important time for Intel, as it prepares to increase production volumes of its advanced packaging technologies, including EMIB-T and HBI. These solutions represent a strategic piece in the realization of systems intended for AI and HPC workloads, where high-speed connectivity between multiple dies and different components is increasingly important.
For Lee, this is also a return to Intel. Before his roles at the top of SK hynix and subsequently SK On, the executive had already held technical and managerial positions within the U.S. company, in addition to having gained experience in the academic world. His profile thus combines skills in the development of advanced manufacturing processes with extensive experience in managing large manufacturing facilities.
Alongside Lee's appointment, Intel confirmed that Naga Chandrasekaran will continue to lead front-end technology development and associated manufacturing activities, maintaining oversight of Intel 18A, Intel 14A, and future iterations of manufacturing processes. He will also continue to be responsible for design enablement activities and commercial support functions aimed at Foundry division customers.
The new organizational structure aims to more clearly separate responsibilities between front-end and back-end, creating a more focused and scalable operating model. According to Intel, this choice should improve the company's ability to meet development and production timelines, while also increasing the predictability of technological roadmaps for customers and partners.
Alongside the announcement, Intel also communicated the impending retirement of Navid Shahriari, Executive Vice President of the company, who will leave the group after a 37-year career.