Intel said on Monday it has named Alex Katouzian to run the company's PC and physical artificial intelligence (AI) unit, a position that will encompass its long-established client computing business and the company's systems for robotics and autonomous machines.
Katouzian, who spent more than two decades at Qualcomm and has deep experience in that company's mobile chip unit, is due to begin the role in May. His remit includes the traditional PC business - a longstanding contributor to Intel's revenue and profitability - alongside Intel's physical AI division, which the company describes as responsible for systems that power robotics, autonomous machines and other AI devices.
"Alex brings deep technical expertise, strong operational discipline, and decades of experience building and scaling global compute platforms," Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan said in a statement. "He is the right leader to help us reimagine client computing beyond the traditional PC and align this future with the next wave of growth in physical AI."
The appointment follows a period in which competitors have sought to expand their positions in the PC market. The announcement notes that Qualcomm is attempting to challenge Intel and Advanced Micro Devices' existing positions in that market with a chip based on Arm Holdings technology.
In a separate personnel move, Intel confirmed Pushkar Ranade as its permanent chief technology officer. Ranade had been serving in the role on an interim basis and will continue to serve as chief of staff to CEO Lip-Bu Tan.
The company did not provide additional operational details beyond the leadership changes, but the combination of the PC business and physical AI under a single leader signals an effort to connect traditional client computing with emerging AI-driven systems in robotics and autonomous machines.
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What this means
The leadership changes place a senior executive with deep mobile chip experience at the helm of Intel's client computing and physical AI efforts, while solidifying the company's technology leadership team with a permanent CTO appointment.