Intel appoints Apple and AMD veteran Raja Kadori as its new Chief Architect; hints at new 'high-end discrete graphics' chip

Days after chipmaker Intel unveiled a partnership with AMD to integrate a semi-custom graphics chip into its new processor package, the company has announced Raja Koduri as the new Intel Chief Architect. The company has appointed Raja as the Senior Vice President of its newly formed Core and Visual Computing group.

Raja M. Koduri, Senior vice president of the Core and Visual Computing Group, Intel. Image: Intel Corporation

According to a report by The Verge, Raja Koduri last served as Senior Vice President and Chief Architect for AMD's Radeon Technologies graphics division, which is identical to the position he currently holds at Intel.

According to a news release by Intel, Koduri will lead the Core and Visual Computing group from December which is intended towards expanding Intel's position in the integrated graphics market for PCs. Intel also mentioned about Koduri's new role being aimed at 'high-end discrete graphics solutions', which could suggest that Intel could be making its own graphics card.

Commenting on his new job profile, 49-year old Koduri said. “I am incredibly excited to join the Intel team and have the opportunity to drive a unified architecture vision across its world-leading IP portfolio that help’s accelerate the data revolution.”

Raja Koduri brings an experience of more than 25 years in the field of visual and accelerated computing advances across platforms that not only include PCs and gaming consoles, but also professional workstations and consumer devices. Before joining AMD, Koduri served as director of graphics architecture at Apple, helping establish a graphics sub-system for the Mac product family. His contribution to the Cupertino-based company also led to the transition to Retina computer displays.

Dr. Murthy Renduchintala, Intel’s chief engineering officer and group president of the Client and Internet of Things Businesses and System Architecture said, “We have exciting plans to aggressively expand our computing and graphics capabilities and build on our very strong and broad differentiated IP foundation. With Raja at the helm of our Core and Visual Computing Group, we will add to our portfolio of unmatched capabilities, advance our strategy to lead in computing and graphics, and ultimately be the driving force of the data revolution.”