Brian Krzanich

Brian Krzanich
Born	Brian Matthew Krzanich 9 5, 1960
Birthplace	Santa Clara County, California, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Business executive, engineer
Title	CEO of Cerence Inc.
Known for	Former CEO of Intel Corporation
Education	San Jose State University (BS)

Brian Matthew Krzanich (born May 9, 1960) is an American business executive and engineer who served as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Intel Corporation from May 2013 to June 2018. A career Intel employee who joined the company as a process engineer in 1982, Krzanich rose through the manufacturing and operations ranks over three decades before being named CEO, succeeding Paul Otellini. His tenure at the helm of the world's largest chipmaker was marked by ambitious diversification efforts, a high-profile push to eliminate conflict minerals from Intel's supply chain, and significant strategic challenges, including Intel's withdrawal from the mobile chip market and repeated delays in transitioning to 10-nanometer manufacturing technology. These setbacks contributed to a loss of market share to competitors such as AMD, TSMC, and Samsung. Krzanich resigned from Intel in June 2018 after an internal investigation revealed a past consensual relationship with a subordinate that violated company policy. In October 2024, he was appointed CEO of Cerence Inc., an automotive artificial intelligence company.

Early Life

Brian Matthew Krzanich was born on May 9, 1960, in Santa Clara County, California, in the heart of what would become known as Silicon Valley. He grew up in the region during a period of rapid expansion in the semiconductor industry. Details about his family background and upbringing are limited in the public record. Krzanich has described himself as a product of the Silicon Valley ecosystem, growing up in close proximity to the technology companies that defined the area's identity.

Reuters described Krzanich as a quiet, behind-the-scenes operator for much of his career, noting that he was not well known outside Intel prior to his appointment as CEO. Colleagues characterized him as a technically oriented leader who preferred working on manufacturing and operational problems rather than seeking public attention. This low-profile approach earned him a reputation within Intel as a methodical and detail-oriented executive, qualities that were seen as assets for running the company's complex global manufacturing operations.

Education

Krzanich attended San Jose State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry. San Jose State, a public university located in the center of Silicon Valley, has historically served as a feeder institution for the region's technology companies. Krzanich's chemistry background provided a foundation for his early career in semiconductor process engineering, a discipline that requires deep understanding of chemical and physical processes involved in chip fabrication.

Career

Early Career at Intel (1982–2012)

Krzanich joined Intel Corporation in 1982 as a process engineer, beginning what would become a more than three-decade career at the company. He entered Intel during a formative period for the semiconductor industry, as the company was establishing its dominance in microprocessor manufacturing under the leadership of founders Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore.

Over the following decades, Krzanich advanced through Intel's manufacturing and operations divisions. His career was concentrated on the fabrication side of the business—the complex, capital-intensive process of turning silicon wafers into finished semiconductor chips. Reuters noted that Krzanich was largely unknown to the broader technology industry and the public throughout most of his career, as he worked in areas of the company that did not involve direct interaction with customers or the media. Within Intel, however, he built a reputation as a capable operations executive.

Prior to his appointment as CEO, Krzanich served as Intel's chief operating officer (COO), a role that gave him oversight of the company's global manufacturing operations, one of Intel's key competitive advantages. Intel's integrated device manufacturer model—in which the company both designs and fabricates its own chips—set it apart from competitors who relied on external foundries, and the COO role placed Krzanich at the center of this strategy.

CEO of Intel (2013–2018)

On May 2, 2013, Intel's board of directors named Krzanich as the company's sixth CEO, succeeding Paul Otellini, who had announced his retirement. The appointment of a manufacturing-focused executive was seen as a signal that Intel intended to leverage its fabrication capabilities as a core strategic asset. At the time of his appointment, The Verge profiled Krzanich as a relatively obscure figure even within the technology press, noting that his selection reflected Intel's preference for promoting from within its engineering and operations ranks.

Conflict Minerals Initiative

One of Krzanich's earliest and most prominent public initiatives as CEO was Intel's effort to eliminate conflict minerals from its supply chain. Conflict minerals—including tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold—are materials sometimes sourced from mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring regions, where their extraction has been linked to armed conflict and human rights abuses.

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 2014, Krzanich announced that Intel's microprocessors were now "conflict-free," meaning the company had verified that the minerals used in their production did not fund armed groups in the Congo region. The announcement was accompanied by a public campaign featuring actress Robin Wright.

By January 2016, Krzanich expanded the initiative further, announcing at CES that every Intel product shipped beginning in the second quarter of 2016 would carry a "conflict-free" label. The effort required Intel to audit its supply chain extensively, tracing materials through multiple layers of suppliers back to their original sources. Intel was one of the first major technology companies to make such a commitment, and the initiative received significant media attention.

Manufacturing Challenges and Strategic Setbacks

Despite Krzanich's manufacturing background, Intel encountered significant difficulties in advancing its chip fabrication technology during his tenure. The company struggled to produce 10-nanometer process chips, a next-generation manufacturing technology that was expected to deliver smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient processors. The 10-nanometer node experienced repeated delays, pushing back product timelines and allowing competitors to close the gap with Intel's manufacturing capabilities.

Rival chip manufacturers TSMC and Samsung made progress on their own advanced process nodes during this period, eroding Intel's long-held manufacturing lead. Meanwhile, AMD, which relies on external foundries for its chip production, gained market share in both the consumer and data center processor markets. The manufacturing delays were a significant blow to Intel's competitive position, as the company's fabrication advantage had long been considered one of its primary differentiators.

Under Krzanich, Intel also withdrew from the mobile chip market, abandoning its Atom processor line for smartphones and tablets. The company had invested billions of dollars in an effort to compete with ARM-based chip designers such as Qualcomm in the mobile space, but failed to gain meaningful market share. The decision to exit mobile represented a significant strategic retreat and an acknowledgment that Intel had been unable to break into one of the technology industry's fastest-growing segments.

Arizona Factory Announcement and Trump Administration

In February 2017, Krzanich visited the White House and appeared alongside President Donald Trump to announce that Intel would invest $7 billion in completing a factory in Chandler, Arizona, known as Fab 42. The facility had originally been planned but was put on hold before Krzanich's announcement.

The announcement was framed by the Trump administration as evidence that its economic policies were encouraging domestic manufacturing investment. However, technology journalists and analysts noted that the Arizona factory had been in Intel's plans for years and that the investment decision was driven primarily by the company's own manufacturing roadmap rather than by any specific government policy. Wired reported that the factory project predated the Trump presidency and was not a direct result of the administration's policies. The Chicago Tribune also covered the announcement, noting the scale of the investment and its potential impact on employment in Arizona.

Departure from Trump Manufacturing Council

In August 2017, following the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and President Trump's response to the events, Krzanich resigned from the American Manufacturing Council, a presidential advisory group. In a public statement, Krzanich cited the need for leaders to take action against behavior and attitudes that jeopardize the country's ability to come together.

Krzanich was among several prominent business executives who left the advisory council in the days following the Charlottesville events, joining leaders from companies including Merck, Under Armour, and others. The San Jose Mercury News reported on the resignation, noting its significance given Krzanich's earlier appearance at the White House for the Arizona factory announcement. Earlier, in June 2016, Krzanich had canceled a planned fundraiser associated with Trump, stating publicly that he was not endorsing any presidential candidate.

Leadership Style

In interviews during his time as CEO, Krzanich discussed his approach to leadership and the technology industry. In a 2017 conversation with TheStreet, he shared leadership advice and perspectives on managing a large technology company. In a separate TheStreet interview, he discussed his views on the state of the technology sector and market conditions.

Krzanich also participated in a 2014 interview with Marketplace, in which he discussed Silicon Valley leadership and the challenges of running one of the region's largest employers.

Resignation from Intel

On June 21, 2018, Intel announced the resignation of Brian Krzanich as CEO and as a member of the company's board of directors. The resignation followed an internal investigation by Intel's board that confirmed Krzanich had engaged in a past consensual relationship with an Intel employee, a violation of the company's non-fraternization policy, which prohibits managers from having intimate relationships with subordinates.

Intel's board appointed Bob Swan, who was then serving as the company's chief financial officer, as interim CEO. Swan later became the permanent CEO in January 2019.

Forbes columnist Rich Karlgaard noted the contradiction between Krzanich's public statements about Intel's corporate culture and his private conduct, observing that Krzanich had spoken publicly in May 2018 about the importance of Intel's culture even as the relationship that would lead to his ouster had already occurred. EE Times published an analysis arguing that Krzanich's departure was necessitated not only by the policy violation but also by broader concerns about leadership judgment, noting that a CEO must be aware of how their actions and words affect the people who report to them.

Board Memberships

During and after his time at Intel, Krzanich served on several boards and advisory bodies. He was elected to the board of directors of Deere & Company, the agricultural and construction equipment manufacturer. He also served on the board of the Semiconductor Industry Association and on the Drone Advisory Committee, which advises the Federal Aviation Administration on matters related to unmanned aerial systems.

CEO of Cerence Inc. (2024–present)

In October 2024, Krzanich was appointed as CEO of Cerence Inc. (NASDAQ: CRNC), an automotive artificial intelligence technology company headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts. Cerence specializes in AI-powered voice and conversational assistants for the automotive industry.

The appointment generated significant public backlash, with critics citing Krzanich's record at Intel. Tom's Hardware reported that Cerence disabled comments on its social media accounts after receiving extensive negative feedback from members of the technology community who questioned the decision to hire Krzanich as CEO.

Despite the initial controversy, Krzanich assumed leadership of the company and began guiding its strategy. In August 2025, Cerence reported what was described as its strongest quarter in months, with the company beating its third-quarter guidance. Krzanich attributed part of the improvement to the company's AI efficiency initiatives, which had found ways to grow without proportional increases in costs.

In an August 2025 interview with CNBC's Jim Cramer, Krzanich discussed how Cerence's AI technology could serve as "a partner in the vehicle" for drivers, explaining the company's approach to integrating artificial intelligence into the automotive experience. Following the interview, Cramer expressed a positive view of the company's prospects.

Personal Life

Krzanich was born and raised in Santa Clara County, California. Limited information about his personal life is available in the public record. His resignation from Intel in 2018 brought attention to a past consensual relationship with an Intel employee, which violated the company's non-fraternization policy. Intel's board stated that the policy applies to all managers and that the investigation confirmed the relationship had occurred.

Legacy

Krzanich's tenure at Intel is the subject of ongoing debate among industry analysts and observers. His leadership of the company during a critical period in the semiconductor industry's evolution produced a mixed record. The conflict minerals initiative was recognized as a significant corporate social responsibility effort, with Intel becoming one of the first major technology companies to audit and certify its supply chain as free from minerals that fund armed conflict.

However, the manufacturing challenges that emerged during his tenure had lasting consequences for Intel. The repeated delays in 10-nanometer chip production disrupted product roadmaps and allowed competitors to narrow or eliminate Intel's long-standing manufacturing advantage. EE Times argued that the strategic missteps during Krzanich's leadership contributed to a fundamental shift in the competitive dynamics of the semiconductor industry. AMD's resurgence in both consumer and enterprise processor markets, enabled in part by advances at foundry partner TSMC, reshaped the competitive landscape that Intel had dominated for decades.

The decision to withdraw from the mobile chip market also had strategic implications, as it left Intel without a meaningful presence in one of the largest and fastest-growing segments of the semiconductor industry. Combined with the manufacturing delays, this withdrawal narrowed Intel's addressable market during a period of rapid growth in mobile computing.

Krzanich's departure from Intel under the circumstances of a policy violation added a further dimension to assessments of his leadership. Forbes noted the tension between his public advocacy for Intel's corporate culture and the private conduct that led to his resignation. His subsequent appointment as CEO of Cerence in 2024 represented a return to executive leadership after a six-year hiatus from CEO roles, though it was met with skepticism from some in the technology community.