(Image: Intel)
By Bolaji Ojo
Michele Johnston Holthaus can still get confirmed as Intel Corp.’s next CEO, vaulting to the top of the management team from her current title of interim co-CEO. But Holthaus would not be the perfect candidate – one presumably with a degree and background in engineering like the last CEO Patrick Gelsinger. She wouldn’t be at a loss in the position, either. Holthaus has the potentials to become a great leader at Intel.
Still, the substantive CEO question isn’t the priority for Intel now. What the public and the chipmaker’s various audiences want to have answers to are more pressing questions about its future. Questions such as: will Intel spin off its foundry unit or retain it as an inhouse operation; will it go ahead and spend billions of dollars on the new fabs promised by Gelsinger or will it seek to conserve funds; what’s the vision for Intel and; what’s the latest on its turnaround plan?