- Intel veteran Lisa Spelman has been appointed CEO of Cornelis Networks, a startup targeting the AI market.
- Spelman’s appointment as CEO marked Cornelis’ focus on expanding in the AI-driven data centre market, leveraging her extensive experience in data centre dynamics and Intel’s AI technologies.
OUR TAKE
Lisa Spelman, a seasoned veteran of Intel Corporation, is set to lead Cornelis Networks as CEO, a startup specialising in AI-focused networking technology spun off from Intel in 2020. The strategic move aims to capitalise on the growing demand for AI capabilities in data centres. Cornelis’ technology facilitates efficient collaboration between servers in data centres, which enhances the development of AI models by consolidating computing resources, and Spelman’s appointment underscores Cornelis Networks’ strategic commitment to expanding its presence in the AI-driven data centre market. With her extensive background at Intel, it is hoped that Spelman will bring a deep understanding of data centre dynamics and AI technologies that will catalyze significant growth for Cornelis.
–Heidi Luo, BTW reporter
What happened
Lisa Spelman, known for her extensive experience overseeing Intel’s data centre business, will take over as CEO of Cornelis Networks on August 15, the company recently announced. Cornelis Networks emerged from Intel’s data centre and AI Group, where Philip Murphy, one of the co-founders, originally developed the networking technology.
Cornelis’ networking technology connects multiple servers in data centres so that they can work together on the same problem like a single brain. Such an approach is becoming increasingly useful for developing artificial intelligence models. It can help harness an entire data centre to deliver massive, coordinated computing power.
In contrast, Nvidia, whose processors are critical to AI software, offers a competing technology called InfiniBand, which it acquired as part of its roughly $7 billion purchase of Mellanox in 2020.
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Why it’s important
Lisa Spelman has an extensive career spanning more than two decades at Intel, where she most recently held the position of corporate vice president in the Data Centre and AI Group. During her tenure, Cornelis Networks was born out of this division based in Wayne, Pennsylvania.
Philip Murphy conceived the technology while at Intel and previously served as the startup’s CEO. He will now take on the role of chief operating officer. Notably, Intel retains a minority stake in Cornelis.
In terms of customers, Cornelis is targeting a broad spectrum, including cloud service providers and enterprises building their own data centres. Spelman estimates the market potential for its technology at around $20 billion, according to Bloomberg.
“We will continue to work with Intel and look to them as a customer base, but just in the same way that we do so with others in the industry,” Spelman said.
