It’s plain to see that executives of major tech companies are cut from a different cloth than most: working long hours, navigating the stormy seas of a highly complex industry, and making tough decisions. Getting to the top requires drive, intelligence, vision, and eagerness to embrace the difficult and the uncomfortable. Lisa Su, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD), brings all of those qualities and more in her lifelong effort to achieve.
Born November 7, 1969 in Tainan, Taiwan, Su immigrated to the United States when she was a small child. Pushed from an early age to pursue studies in math and science, she was also introduced to business concepts by her mother, an accountant and entrepreneur. Fascinated with engineering at the age of 10, she found herself disassembling and repairing her brother’s remote-controlled cars.
She graduated high school in 1986 and went on to study electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, discovering an early interest in semiconductors. Obtaining her Master of Science degree in 1991 and a PhD in 1994, she went on to work for Texas Instruments and moved to IBM, where she remained for over twelve years before moving to Freescale Semiconductor in mid-2007. After taking over global strategy, marketing, and engineering for the company’s semiconductor business, she led the company to a 2011 initial public offering.
In early 2012, Su became the Senior Vice President and General Manager of AMD, pushing the company beyond its PC niche to develop chips for gaming consoles for both Microsoft and Sony. In 2014 she was appointed President and CEO during a time when AMD struggled with staggering losses. By continuing to drive the development of new chips for a more diverse market, Su managed to turn around the company’s revenue in 2016, leading to her become the top-paid CEO in an Associated Press 2019 survey.
Despite the staggering success of AMD in recent years, Su is far from one to rest on her laurels. Attributing her success to the mentors who pushed her to her limits, she continues to advocate for greater opportunities for women in technology, stating in a 2017 interview that, “The number one thing we need to do for women in tech is to provide an environment of opportunity...if we provide environments in which women can be ambitious, take risks, learn from mistakes, and really differentiate themselves, I believe more women will take on greater roles in tech.”