Former HPE Executive to Lead Intel's Data Centre & AI Group

January 05, 2024

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This news comes shortly after the semiconductor company announced its spinoff organisation, Articul8 AI (Image source: Intel)

Intel announces that Justin Hotard will lead the company’s Data Center and AI Group (DCAI) as executive vice president and general manager from February

Former HPE executive Justin Hotard has been announced as Executive Vice President and General Manager of Intel’s Data Center and AI Group, effective February 1st 2024.

He will be responsible for the company’s data centre products and its mission to “bring AI everywhere”. Joining Intel with more than 20 years of experience in driving transformation and growth in computing and data centre businesses, Hotard is a recognised leader in delivering scalable enterprise AI systems.

This news comes shortly after the semiconductor company announced its spinoff organisation, Articul8 AI, which aims to offer enterprise customers a full-stack, vertically-optimised and secure generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) software platform.

Advancing Intel in the chip industry

As a result of this new role, Hotard will become a member of Intel’s executive leadership team and report directly to CEO Pat Gelsinger. He will be responsible for the company’s suite of data centre products spanning enterprise and cloud, including its Intel Xeon processors, graphics processing units (GPUs) and accelerators. He will also play an integral role in driving the company’s mission to bring AI everywhere.

Intel’s Xeon processors are very scalable and are able to offer greater hybrid cloud solutions for companies like Lenovo, for example, that are looking to accelerate AI performance. The company’s changes to its data centre portfolio are part of a plan to allow the company to once again lead in the chip industry.

“Justin is a proven leader with a customer-first mindset and has an impressive track record in driving growth and innovation in the data centre and AI,” says Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger.

“[He] is committed to our vision to create world-changing technologies and passionate about the critical role Intel will play in empowering our customers for decades to come.”

Hotard will be succeeding Sandra Rivera, who became the chief executive officer (CEO) of Programmable Solutions Group, an Intel standalone business.

Prior to Intel, Hotard served as Executive Vice President and General Manager of High-Performance Computing, AI and Labs at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). During his eight years at HPE, he was responsible for delivering AI capabilities to customers addressing some of the world’s most complex problems through data-intensive workloads. He also directed the company’s central applied research group, Hewlett Packard Labs.

He also previously served as President of NCR Small Business and held corporate development and operating positions at Symbol Technologies and Motorola Inc.

Hotard holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Business Administration from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

He said on LinkedIn: “I am excited about my next chapter to lead the Data Center and AI Business Group at Intel Corporation. I look forward to joining Pat Gelsinger and his talented team to contribute to its vision to create world-changing technologies and deliver on Intel’s mission to bring AI everywhere.

“While at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, I have had the honour of working with incredibly talented people. Together, we have entered new markets and ushered in new breakthroughs with exascale and AI.”