CEO Series: Lisa Su, AMD

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Happy 2025, everyone! We’re kicking off the new year with a bang, and I couldn’t be more excited to bring back what you’ve told me is your absolute favorite—the Billion Dollar CEO Series! And yes, there’s more of it coming your way this year. So, who better to launch the series with than the phenomenal Lisa Su of AMD? Let’s dive in!

Sam Jacobs, TIME Editor-in-Chief (Clip):

TIME’s 2024 CEO of The Year.

Kevin Scott, Microsoft CTO (Clip):

Chair and CEO of one of the most important semiconductor companies in the world…

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Lisa Su—a name synonymous with transformative leadership, resilience, and groundbreaking innovation. Named TIME’s CEO of the Year for 2024 and estimated by Forbes to have a net worth of $1.3 billion, Lisa has been said to embody a rare blend of technical expertise, business acumen, and exceptional people skills. Under her leadership, AMD has transformed from a struggling company to a global semiconductor powerhouse with a market cap exceeding $200 billion, so much so it was featured as a Harvard case study for a killer turnaround story.

Lisa Su:

The key is to be very clear on what you want to be best at. And it doesn't have to be the most popular thing, but it has to be something that you know will make a difference.

“I felt like I was in training for the opportunity to do something meaningful in the semiconductor industry,” she said. “And AMD was my shot.” 

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In this compelling episode of the Billion Dollar Moves CEO Series, we delve into her personal journey, the bold decisions that defined her career, and the lessons every leader can take away from her story.

The Engine Behind Today’s Digital World

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Let’s take a step back and get a sense of the significance of AMD for those not familiar with it:

AMD IS the engine behind today’s digital world. When you email, stream a movie, shop online, or interact with AI tools like ChatGPT, chances are AMD is powering the experience. AMD’s CPUs (Central Processing Units) are the workhorses behind personal computers and data centers for tech giants like Google, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft. AMD’s GPUs (Graphics Processing Units) have also become crucial in driving AI innovations.

Lisa Su (Clip):

It’s interesting. I’ve been in the semiconductor business for, I don’t know, the last 30 years, and for the longest time, people didn’t really even understand what semiconductors were or where they fit in the overall supply chain and where they were necessary in applications. I think the last few years, especially with the pandemic-driven demand and everything that we’re doing with AI, people now are really focused on semiconductors.

I think there has been a tremendous cycle. One, a cycle where we needed a lot more chips than we had, and then a cycle where we had too many of some. But at the end of the day, I think the fact is semiconductors are essential to so many applications. And particularly for us, what we’re focused on are the most complex, the highest performance, the bleeding edge of semiconductors. And I would say that there’s tremendous growth in the market.

When I first took over as CEO of AMD—it was like 10 years ago now—it was really a moment where we were like, “What should we be when we grow up?” 

Our specialty is around high-performance computing. Like, we build big things. Everyone has to kind of know what they’re best at. And that’s what we’re best at. We’re best at building large complex microprocessors or GPUs, or, with our acquisition of Xilinx, adaptive and embedded computing.

When you look forward, you see that high-performance computing is really important in the industry in so many places, and it is at the heart of what makes AI possible. 

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In November 2023, AMD-powered El Capitan became the world’s most powerful supercomputer, surpassing another AMD-based machine. This achievement underscores AMD’s role in shaping the future of technology under Lisa Su’s visionary leadership. 

When Lisa Su took the reins as CEO a decade ago, AMD's stock was hovering around $3, its share in the data-center chip market was virtually non-existent, and many doubted the company’s survival. With her engineering expertise, Su led a comprehensive overhaul of AMD’s products, rebuilt trust with customers, and capitalized on the AI boom to drive the company to new heights. By 2022, AMD’s market value surpassed that of its long-time rival, Intel, for the first time. Today, AMD stock trades at approximately $140—a staggering 50-fold increase since Su’s leadership began.

But how did we get here? 

Born in Tainan, Taiwan, in 1969, Lisa immigrated to the U.S. with her family at the age of three. By her teenage years, Lisa was dismantling and fixing her brother’s remote-control cars and exploring the possibilities of her first computer, an Apple II. Su’s mother, an accountant turned entrepreneur, and father, a statistician, gave her three career options: doctor, concert pianist, or engineer. The latter seemed like the logical choice. 

At the Bronx High School of Science, Lisa took on ambitious science projects, including simulating a hurricane in a box. These early experiences reflected her hands-on approach to understanding the world and ignited her passion for technology.

MIT and the Early Career Years

Lisa Su (Clip): 

I grew up as an engineer, engineer at heart, went to school in semiconductor devices, and really did the majority of my early career at IBM, doing R&D around devices. And then as you think about fun things to do in the world, I was always fascinated with the idea that the work that you do in chips is such that you can influence so many things. Technology is so important. And so I just loved being at the forefront of high-performance computing and computing all these years. 

That brought me to Freescale Semiconductor for 5 years where I was CTO for a while and then to AMD 12 years ago. 

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At MIT, Lisa chose electrical engineering because it was the most challenging major. Her doctoral work on silicon-on-insulator chips positioned her as a pioneer in semiconductor efficiency. Her early career included pivotal roles at Texas Instruments, IBM, and Freescale Semiconductor, where she learned to navigate both technical innovation and team management. These experiences became the foundation for her leadership at AMD.

The AMD Turnaround

Lisa Su (Clip):

So when I first took over as CEO was 2014 and 2015 timeframe and you're so excited about your next Apple iPhone, right?

You're so excited about the next tablet that you're going to buy. And people were asking, my board was asking me, Lisa, why are we not like doing that? Like, why are we not in phones? Why are we not in tablets? And the truth was, you know, those are fun businesses to be in, but they're not AMD.

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When Lisa became AMD’s CEO in 2014, the company was in dire straits. It had laid off 25% of its workforce, sold and leased back its Austin office, and spun off its costly chip factories. The tech industry was shifting, with smartphones and tablets on the rise, while AMD’s primary market—consumer PCs—was in decline. Chip-industry analyst Stacy Rasgon described it as a moment when success seemed unlikely: “Lisa was handed a tough situation.”

Ian King (Senior Reporter, Bloomberg News):

She took a company that was also around that used to get laughed at, almost made a difference. Right. And and made it a significant provider of cutting edge technology, a serious company, one that people believe in and trust. And she did that.

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Lisa’s turnaround plan had three clear pillars: build exceptional products, focus on customer relationships, and streamline operations. Rejecting advice to pivot toward low-power processors for phones, she doubled down on AMD’s strength—powerful processors. “We needed to bet on what we were good at,” she often said.

She set ambitious goals, such as creating a CPU chip 40% faster than the previous generation and developing a chip for the world’s first exascale supercomputer capable of performing one quintillion operations per second. These bold targets motivated her team and redefined AMD’s trajectory. “People are really motivated by ambitious goals,” she explained. “The previous strategy of, ‘let’s just do a little better,’ is less inspiring.”

However, success didn’t come overnight. While engineers worked to realize these goals, Lisa secured deals with console manufacturers to generate vital revenue and keep AMD afloat. In 2016, she brokered a deal with Chinese companies to license AMD designs, bringing in $293 million. Though this decision later faced scrutiny, it bought the company time to stabilize.

Lisa Su (Clip): 

So when we started in the hyperscaler market with our first generation products, our Zen product portfolio, I think we were about maybe 1% share of the server market. And, actually, the whole idea of having deep partnerships with customers is really because we needed to be able to say that, hey, it’s all about the roadmap. Yes, the product you have today is great, but it’s all about whether you can keep a sustained level of constant innovation many generations out. And I think we have made a lot of progress in the hyperscalers. I love the relationships that we have across the top brands, whether it’s Microsoft or Amazon or Google or Oracle or Meta. And it’s always about, how do we innovate together? 

It’s a tough market as we know, but we must earn it every day. So I’m very cognizant of that.

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By 2017, AMD had turned the corner. Its engineers introduced the Zen chip architecture, which revolutionized manufacturing by using “chiplets.” This modular approach made production more scalable and reliable. With each new Zen generation, AMD gained ground in the cloud-CPU market, capturing 34% of the segment by 2022. When AMD’s valuation surpassed Intel’s that year, it was a milestone many thought impossible just a few years earlier.

Pioneering Supercomputing with El Capitan

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Inside a high-security laboratory beyond the dry hills of Silicon Valley, government scientists celebrated a groundbreaking achievement in November 2023. The machine under their care, housed in a space longer than a football field, officially earned the title of the world’s most powerful supercomputer. 

If every person on Earth performed one calculation per second, it would take over 480 years to equal what this machine, named El Capitan, accomplishes in a single minute.

At the heart of this supercomputer are over 44,000 AMD accelerated processing units (APUs), which combine elements of CPUs and GPUs into a single chip. When Lisa Su heard the news, she was ecstatic. “These are the days I live for,” she said. The accomplishment also cemented AMD’s position as the designer behind the world’s two most powerful supercomputers.

Lisa Su (Clip):

We're so excited about the science and the capability of El Capitan when we think about all of the applications, all of the learnings, for both national security as well as for general science, it's only possible because of the incredible computing power that we have with El Capitan.

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For Lisa, this milestone wasn’t just about prestige. It was about delivering on her commitment to build world-class technology.

The designs used for El Capitan have already trickled down to AMD’s AI chips, such as the Instinct MI300X, which is widely adopted by clients like Meta and Microsoft. This synergy between supercomputing and AI innovation exemplifies Lisa’s vision of leveraging cutting-edge projects to fuel broader growth.

Lisa Su (Clip):

The next ten years are going to be different from the last ten. As it relates to how do you develop, within AI? And I think we're seeing that across, you know, sort of the industry and the ecosystem. And the benefit of an open approach is that, you know, that there's no one company that has all the ideas.

And so the more we're able to bring the ecosystem together, we get to take advantage of all of those, really, really smart developers, who want to accelerate AI learning.

The Challenges Ahead

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But folks, we’re not in the clear yet. Despite its progress, AMD faces a competitive and volatile landscape. Nvidia dominates the AI GPU market, accounting for 95% of the $32 billion in AI data-center GPU sales in the third quarter of 2024. And fun fact Nvidia is actually led by Jensen Huang who also happens to be Lisa’s cousin— talk about AN extraordinary family right there! Meanwhile, AMD’s major customers—Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon—are developing their own AI chips, potentially reducing their reliance on AMD.

Geopolitical factors also weigh heavily. Most of AMD’s chips are manufactured in Taiwan, a region under threat as China seeks to assert control. U.S. export controls and trade tensions add further uncertainty. While 15% of AMD’s 2023 revenue came from China and Hong Kong, these sales could be jeopardized by escalating tariffs or retaliatory measures.

Lisa acknowledges these complexities but remains focused: “We want to serve the entire world with our chips while striving to be the most advanced semiconductor country.” Her ability to navigate these external challenges will determine AMD’s continued success.

Lisa Su (Clips):

The technology that we're building is some of the most powerful chips in the world, and so we totally get that. There's a natural security element of it. We want there to be as open a market as possible, while still taking into account the national security interests. And it's a give and take.

The way I look at these things is, you know, we are a global company. China is an important market for us. We do sell to China more consumer related goods, you know, versus other things. And there's an opportunity there for us to really have a balanced approach into how we deal with, you know, some of these, you know, geopolitical matters.

It is something that we all take very seriously. The technology has so much upside in terms of what it can do from a productivity and a discovery standpoint, but there’s also safety in AI. 

And I do think that, as large companies, we have a responsibility. If you think about the two things around data privacy as well as just overall ensuring as these models are developed that they’re developed to the best of our ability without too much bias. 

We’re going to make mistakes. The industry as a whole will not be perfect here. But I think there is clarity around its importance and that we need to do it together and that there needs to be a public / private partnership to make it happen.

I don’t think there’s a silver bullet. It’s not, “I can make the chip not do it.” It’s “I can make the combination of the chip and the model and have some safeguards in place.” And we’re absolutely willing to be at that table to help that happen.

Leadership Philosophy and Style

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Now let’s talk a bit about her leadership philosophy and style.

Lisa is known for her relentless focus and high standards. She holds strategy meetings on weekends, dives into the details of technical documents, and personally inspects prototype chips. While this approach isn’t for everyone, it has built a culture of accountability and excellence at AMD. As Lisa says, “I don’t believe leaders are born. I believe leaders are trained.”

Her 2016 deal with Chinese companies, though controversial in hindsight, reflects her willingness to take calculated risks to buy AMD time. 

Today, AMD’s focus on customer-centric innovation and strategic lobbying ensures the company remains agile in an evolving market. She accepts as she says that “every year, it feels like I’m leading a different company”.

Lisa Su (Clip):

I think what we're trying to do with our company in our culture is to ensure that, if you want to do bleeding edge technology and you want to make a difference, you know, come to AMD and do that. 

And I think people have felt that they have outsized impact on the technology industry in terms of, you know, just the decisions that they get to make, the empowerment that they have and the impact that they have on the company.

But yeah, absolutely. This is on my mind all the time as we grow as well, because we want to, you know, as we scale as a company, we've grown a lot. I mean, we, you know, started with maybe around 10,000 people 7 or 8 years ago. This year we're at 25,000. So that's a lot of new people that are coming into the AMD culture.

We want to maintain that view of, hey, you're extremely empowered and extremely capable to do the right thing.

Closing Remarks

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Lisa Su’s leadership has redefined AMD and set a new standard for what’s possible in the semiconductor industry. From betting on AMD’s strengths to navigating geopolitical challenges with precision, her journey is a testament to the power of resilience, bold goals, and transformative leadership. As Lisa says, “You have to run faster.” Her story is an inspiration for leaders aiming to create meaningful impact in a complex world.

5 Questions for Leaders Inspired by Lisa Su’s Journey:

1. How can I identify and double down on my organization’s core strengths? And not be swayed by trends? Remember how AMD stayed the course in developing high processing chips - so yes while they missed the mobile wave, they were ready for the AI wave. You have to take a step back to take a step forward.
2. Am I setting ambitious yet achievable goals that inspire my team?
3. How do I balance calculated risks with long-term strategy to navigate challenges?
4. What opportunities exist to leverage cutting-edge innovation to drive growth?
5. How am I fostering a culture of accountability and excellence within my team?