Intel's head of datacenter and AI unit leaves to lead Nokia

Intel
(Image credit: Intel)

In an unexpected turn of events Justin Hotard, the executive vice president and general manager of the Data Center and AI Group (DCAI) at Intel, left the company to become chief executive of Nokia. Intel has appointed an internal head for its datacenter and AI unit and will start searching for a new permanent general manager immediately. 

"We have a strong DCAI team that will continue to advance our priorities in service to our customers," a statement by Intel reads. "Karin Eibschitz Segal has been appointed interim head of the DCAI business and is an accomplished executive with nearly two decades of Intel leadership experience spanning products, systems and infrastructure roles. We are grateful for Justin Hotard's contributions and wish him the best in his new role." 

Justin Hotard joined Intel from HPE in early 2024. His tenure was arguably a mixed bag, though much of what he oversaw was more or less in place before he arrived. Intel successfully launched its Xeon 6 'Granite Rapids' and 'Sierra Forest' CPUs for servers,  but sales of its Gaudi 3 processors for AI missed the company's own rather modest expectations. In addition, the company had to cancel its Falcon Shores as a product and delay its Clearwater Forest datacenter CPU by at least a quarter. 

Justin Hotard has over 25 years of experience working at major technology companies. Before joining Intel, he held leadership positions at Hewlett Packard Enterprise and NCR Corporation. His background includes expertise in AI and datacenter markets, which are said to be critical areas for Nokia's future. 

"I am delighted to welcome Justin to Nokia," said Sari Baldauf, Chair of Nokia’s Board of Directors. "He has a strong track record of accelerating growth in technology companies along with vast expertise in AI and datacenter markets, which are critical areas for Nokia's future growth. In his previous positions, and throughout the selection process, he has demonstrated the strategic insight, vision, leadership and value creation mindset required for a CEO of Nokia." 

Nokia's current CEO Pekka Lundmark will step down on March 31, 2025, and Justin Hotard will take over the role starting April 1, 2025. Lundmark will stay on as an advisor until the end of the year. Hotard will be based in Espoo, Finland, where Nokia’s headquarters are located. 

Lundmark has led Nokia since 2020, a period marked by significant challenges. Under his leadership, the company strengthened its position in 5G technology, cloud-based network infrastructure, and patent licensing. With this leadership change, Nokia aims to continue its transformation, focusing on AI, datacenters, and next-generation connectivity. 

"I am honored by the opportunity to lead Nokia, a global leader in connectivity with a unique heritage in technology," said Justin Hotard. "Networks are the backbone that power society and businesses, and enable generational technology shifts like the one we are currently experiencing in AI. I am excited to get started and look forward to continuing Nokia's transformation journey to maximize its potential for growth and value creation." 

Justin Hotard leaves a couple of months after Pat Gelsinger, chief executive of Intel, was ousted by the board of directors. As a result, Intel now does not have a permanent CEO or a permanent head of its key DCAI unit.

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Anton Shilov
Contributing Writer

Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.

  • rluker5
    His tenure over the last year overseeing a bunch of disappointment in his department certainly was a mixed bag.
    Reply
  • jp7189
    Intel should acquire tenstorrent on the condition Keller takes leadership of the whole group.
    Reply
  • Pierce2623
    jp7189 said:
    Intel should acquire tenstorrent on the condition Keller takes leadership of the whole group.
    I think it’s too late. Intel’s value has fallen too much and Tenstorrent’s value gotten too high for that to happen now. Intel burned a ton of of their massive cash pile and would have to borrow against their own value, which has dropped hugely.
    Reply
  • Giroro
    Finally, an executive failed downward, instead of upward.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    Giroro said:
    Finally, an executive failed downward, instead of upward.
    Failing downward probably happens more often than not, but you don't usually hear about it because it tends not to be newsworthy. In fact, what normally happens is they get fired, which is typically stated involving some sort of euphemism like spending more time with their family. Later, if they find anything at all, it's generally not as good.

    That said, failure isn't so heavily stigmatized in sili-valley as in most places. So, a lot of failed founders and execs do get another bite at the apple.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    jp7189 said:
    Intel should acquire tenstorrent on the condition Keller takes leadership of the whole group.
    Yeah, it'd be sweet if they could somehow get Jim to take over as Intel's next CEO. I'm not sure he'd be interested, due to the amount of political BS, but I know he'd be good if he gave it a go and really got the board to support his plan for the company.
    Reply
  • DS426
    bit_user said:
    Yeah, it'd be sweet if they could somehow get Jim to take over as Intel's next CEO. I'm not sure he'd be interested, due to the amount of political BS, but I know he'd be good if he gave it a go and really got the board to support his plan for the company.
    He doesn't need that much of the business side, even though he is apparently business-savvy; IMO, he just needs to head the CPU engineering department, and maybe slide over to their GPU house once Intel has their Ryzen moment.
    Reply
  • DS426
    rluker5 said:
    His tenure over the last year overseeing a bunch of disappointment in his department certainly was a mixed bag.
    I literally laughed out loud on this one. Thank you.
    (Of course, I was thinking the same thing)

    He's pretty fortunate to move into a CEO role in a company that big considering DCAI's performance, that's for sure. Apparently weather forecasters aren't the only gravy train gigs out there...
    Reply
  • bit_user
    DS426 said:
    He doesn't need that much of the business side, even though he is apparently business-savvy; IMO, he just needs to head the CPU engineering department, and maybe slide over to their GPU house once Intel has their Ryzen moment.
    From reading and watching interviews with him, I think he could probably add more value in the CEO's chair, at this point in his career. You know he's CEO of Tenstorrent, right? He was not a founder - he stepped directly into that role, like 5 years after the company's founding.

    Even at AMD, he wasn't lead architect of Zen. That was Mike Clark. Jim was a couple levels above him.
    Reply
  • Pierce2623
    bit_user said:
    Yeah, it'd be sweet if they could somehow get Jim to take over as Intel's next CEO. I'm not sure he'd be interested, due to the amount of political BS, but I know he'd be good if he gave it a go and really got the board to support his plan for the company.
    Under Pat the pro they just recently jettisoned the last Keller project, Royal Core.
    Reply