Intel announced that Ann Kelleher, the vice president who led the company’s chip manufacturing technology development, will step down by the end of 2025. Her departure coincides with the start of a major transformation at Intel’s Foundry manufacturing unit and the completion of the development of Intel’s key 18A process technology at its Oregon research site.
Kelleher has been with the company for 29 years. She began her career at Intel in 1996 as a process engineer. She later became the head of one of the company’s fabs. In 2020, she was given the job of leading all of Intel’s process engineering. As part of the transition, she was given a new role as a strategic advisor to Intel Foundry, the division responsible for manufacturing operations. She was 59 when she announced her departure.
Over the past few years, Kelleher has led the development of the 18A process technology, one of Intel’s most important projects aimed at closing the gap with TSMC. The technology was created at the company’s research fabs in Hillsboro, Oregon. Intel has already made significant progress in mastering the 18A process technology and is preparing to release the first chips on it for third-party customers. The development of the latter will soon reach the tape-out stage, the final stage of chip design, when the finished chip topology is transferred to the fab to begin production, including the manufacture of photomasks.
Image Source: Intel
The transition to a new stage of technology management is accompanied by personnel changes. In July 2024, Intel invited Naga Chandrasekaran, formerly of Micron, to the position of head of the contract chip manufacturing division. Now he will take the position of chief technology and operations officer at Intel Foundry, as well as lead the technology development direction, which was previously overseen by Kelleher. Although his main place of work is in Arizona, Chandrasekaran, as emphasized in the Intel statement, regularly visits all the company’s facilities.
Intel announced in the fall of 2024 that it had selected Navid Shahriari as Kelleher’s long-term successor, but the timing of her departure was not disclosed at the time. Shahriari has now been named executive vice president of a new organizational structure tasked with coordinating Intel’s manufacturing operations across the company. Intel also announced this appointment on March 20, 2025, at the same time as Kelleher’s resignation.
Intel’s official statement emphasizes that the transition is taking place with the management team fully prepared and the 18A project successfully implemented. The company claims that technology development is ahead of schedule. Tape-out projects for external customers and preparation for the release of the first products are in an active phase, which allows for a planned and consistent leadership transition. Until Anne Kelleher leaves Intel, she will serve as a strategic advisor to Intel Foundry.