Intel has appointed Seok-Hee Lee as executive vice president of Intel Foundry, giving him responsibility for advanced packaging, system integration, back-end technology development and back-end manufacturing. The company said the move is intended to strengthen its ability to deliver system-level innovation for foundry customers as packaging becomes more important in AI and high-performance computing.
Intel said Seok-Hee Lee will report directly to CEO Lip-Bu Tan. The company is establishing advanced packaging as a focused business with dedicated leadership, reflecting what it called the growing importance and complexity of packaging as a key enabler of performance, power efficiency and heterogeneous integration across AI systems.
“Advanced packaging and system integration are becoming defining capabilities for next-generation computing systems,” said Lip-Bu Tan, Intel CEO. “Seok-Hee brings deep expertise in leading complex, high-scale technology and manufacturing organizations, along with a strong track record of operational execution. He is the right leader to build and scale this critical part of the Intel Foundry business as we prepare to ramp advanced packaging technologies, including EMIB-T and HBI, to high volume for customers and partners.”
Seok-Hee Lee will lead advanced packaging technologies including EMIB-T and HBI, and that his appointment is part of a broader foundry operating model designed to be more focused and scalable.
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Who Seok-Hee Lee is
Intel said Seok-Hee Lee joins from SK On, where he served as president and CEO, and previously served as president and CEO of SK hynix. Lee has held engineering leadership roles at Intel and in academia, giving him a background that spans semiconductor manufacturing and process technology as well as executive management.
The company is trying to link chip design, packaging and manufacturing into one customer-facing system, which is why a leader with both operations and technology experience matters here.
“Intel is uniquely positioned to lead in advanced packaging as demand for system-level integration accelerates across AI and high-performance computing,” said Seok-Hee Lee. “I’m excited to return home and to join the Intel team as we help advance the company’s technology leadership, manufacturing capabilities, and customer commitments in this critical area.”
Why advanced packaging is the part to watch
Intel makes clear that advanced packaging is the center of this appointment. Packaging has become a defining capability for next-generation computing systems, especially where AI chips need logic, memory, networking and other components tightly coupled into one system.
Intel is treating packaging as part of the competitive product stack, not as a back-end manufacturing detail. That matters because AI systems are increasingly judged by how well those parts work together, not only by the performance of the individual chip.
Naga Chandrasekaran will continue to lead front-end technology development and front-end manufacturing, while Seok-Hee Lee takes the back-end and packaging side. Intel said Chandrasekaran will also continue to oversee design enablement and customer-facing business enablement functions.
That split suggests Intel wants cleaner ownership across the manufacturing chain. Inference-wise, it looks like the company is trying to reduce complexity by separating the work into two major domains: front-end process technology on one side and advanced packaging and integration on the other.
Intel has been saying for months that it wants a more focused and scalable operating model, and earlier company releases showed similar emphasis on leadership and process milestones across its manufacturing organization.
In 2024, Intel named Naga Chandrasekaran to lead foundry manufacturing and supply chain, and Intel said he would help build a globally resilient semiconductor supply chain for the AI era.
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Intel’s foundry efforts remain under pressure and that the company is trying to improve execution around next-generation process technology and customer ramp-up. Against that backdrop, giving advanced packaging its own executive owner is a practical step rather than a symbolic one. Data point
Intel said Seok-Hee Lee will be responsible for advanced packaging technologies including EMIB-T and HBI, while Chandrasekaran continues to lead front-end development and manufacturing for Intel 18A, Intel 14A and future technologies. Those named technologies are the clearest concrete sign of how Intel is splitting the foundry workload.
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