Murthy renduchintala biography

Semiconductor veteran joins the FlexIC technology pioneer enabling sustainable item-level intelligence in trillions of devices over the next decade.

Cambridge, UK, 23 July 2024, Today Pragmatic Semiconductor Ltd. announced the appointment of Dr. Venkata “Murthy” Renduchintala, as a non-executive director to Pragmatic’s Board of Directors, effective immediately.

Murthy brings a wealth of semiconductor knowledge, with over 30 years technology industry experience. This includes, most recently, half a decade at Intel Inc. where he served as Intel’s Chief Engineering Officer and Global Group President of Intel’s Technology, Manufacturing and Systems Architecture Group. Prior to Intel, Murthy spent over a decade at Qualcomm Inc. as Executive Vice President, Qualcomm Technologies and Co-President, Qualcomm CDMA Technologies. Previous experience spans technology and consumer electronics leadership roles at Skyworks Inc. and Philips Electronics.

Murthy has served as a member of the board of directors at Accenture Plc. since April 2018 and as a member of the board of directors at First Solar Inc. since May 2024. At Accenture, Murthy serves as a member of the Audit and Finance committees. At First Solar, Murthy chairs the Technology committee. In 2022, his alma mater, the University of Bradford, appointed Murthy as an Honorary Professor. Going forward, he will retain these roles in addition to his directorship at Pragmatic.

Erik Langaker, Chairman of the Board, Pragmatic Semiconductor said: “On behalf of the Pragmatic Board of Directors, I wish to extend a warm welcome to Murthy as a non-executive director. His vast management experience and deep understanding of the semiconductor sector will bring invaluable additional perspective and strategic insight.”

Murthy Renduchintala, Non-Executive Director, Pragmatic Semiconductor said: “I am really energized to join the Pragmatic team at such

More importantly he brought his calibre and leadership skills to align product design, engineering and business direction to tighten Intel’s strategy and speed execution across the communications, device and IoT segments – all these are core to growth in the smart and connected computing era.

Murthy Prior to joining Intel, Murthy was with Qualcomm CDMA Technologies (QCT) between 2004-2015, first as Vice President of Engineering then rose to Executive Vice President and Co-President of QCT. In 2000, he left Philips Electronics and took up the post of Vice President and General Manager of the Cellular Systems Division in Skyworks solutions (2000-2004).

Murthy is another example of a member of the University alumni who has gone on to make their mark in society, and his success in this industry has provided our students and graduates with an inspiring role model in their industry and an industry that aligns to the interest of the Faculty of Engineering and Informatics.   

Given Murthy’s wealth of professional and technical experience, his role as an Honorary Professor includes, but not limited to the following:

1. Expert Specialist and Advisor to the Innovation and Skills Advisory Board (ISAB) of the Bradford-Renduchintala Space AI Centre
2. Advisor to the Faculty of Engineering and Informatics
3. Advisor to the University

Dr. Venkata (Murthy) M. Renduchintala is group president of the Technology, Systems Architecture & Client Group and chief engineering officer at Intel Corporation. The group is responsible for aligning technology, engineering, product design and business direction to extend Intel’s strategy and speed execution across the client device and IoT segments — all core to growth in the smart and connected compute era. Renduchintala’s group brings together Intel’s Platform Engineering, Client Computing, IoT, Software and Services, and Design and Technology Solutions as they share a common set of technologies required for client/mobile System on Chip (SoC) and connectivity leadership.

Renduchintala has spent a substantial part of his career in the SoC, mobile and IoT areas. Prior to joining Intel, he was executive vice president of Qualcomm Technologies Inc. and co-president of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies, where he led its semiconductor business in the computing and mobile segments. He joined Qualcomm in 2004 from Skyworks Solutions Inc./Conexant Systems Inc., where he was vice president and general manager of the company’s Cellular Systems Division. Prior to Skyworks, he spent a decade with Philips Electronics, where he progressed to become vice president of engineering for its consumer communications business.

Renduchintala holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, a master’s degree in business administration and a Ph.D. in digital communications from the University of Bradford in England.

When then-Chief Executive Officer Brian Krzanich hired Renduchintala from rival Qualcomm Inc. in 2015, he was lauded as someone with the experience needed to upgrade Intel’s design efforts. But the two leaders’ extensive recruitment of outsiders led to an exodus of longtime Intel senior executives during Krzanich’s tenure. That became a hindrance when Krzanich was subsequently dismissed for an illicit workplace relationship, leaving an absence of internal candidates ready and qualified to replace him.

After a seven-month search, Chief Financial Officer Bob Swan reluctantly took the CEO role, placing the company in the hands of another outside recruit. Renduchintala was one of those passed over the for top job.

Executive reshuffles and maneuvering for higher positions are part of corporate life. But throughout Intel’s more than 50-year history, the company has seldom looked outside its own ranks for leaders and has maintained an approach of developing its own executives. Another pillar of the chipmaker’s success has been to manufacture its own products, bucking the industry trend of outsourcing. Intel has argued that manufacturing and chip design should be done together, shunning rivals’ approach of focusing just on design and letting third parties do the building. The company’s message was always clear: Intel has the most advanced plants, and that goes a long way toward making the best processors.

Maintaining that innovative advantage became Renduchintala’s job when Swan promoted him to the chief engineering role, but any sense of progress regaining its edge was destroyed last week when the company said the latest technique for building the most advanced semiconductors was a year behind schedule. That gives rivals the opportunity to appeal to computer makers with their own versions of the pitch that’s been so successful for Intel in the past: Their products are made with