Intel is losing another senior figure from its data center and AI business, with Saurabh Kulkarni, Vice President of Data Center AI Product Management, set to depart for AMD. Kulkarni's last day at Intel is reportedly Friday, with Anil Nanduri, VP of AI Go-To-Market, stepping in to lead the AI product management organization. Kulkarni joined Intel a little over two years ago and most recently oversaw product management across AI systems, GPUs, and silicon design within the company's data center group. He previously defined Intel's AI systems strategy under Chief Technology and AI Officer Sachin Katti, including work on silicon photonics interconnects to improve GPU scalability for large-scale data center deployments. Before returning to Intel, Kulkarni held senior leadership roles at Graphcore and Lucata, and earlier in his career spent six years at Microsoft , leading engineering efforts for Azure's cloud and AI infrastructure. In February, Intel also lost Justin Hotard , who previously led its Data Center and AI (DCAI) division, after he announced his departure to become Nokia's new CEO.

Kulkarni's move comes as AMD ramps up its own data center AI push , driven by the Instinct GPU lineup and major design wins, including OpenAI . AMD projects its AI accelerator business could reach tens of billions in annual revenue by 2027, a target CEO Lisa Su reiterated earlier this week. Intel, meanwhile, continues to realign its AI and data center divisions under new CEO Lip-Bu Tan, following weaker-than-expected Gaudi accelerator revenue and a broader restructuring effort affecting roughly 15% of its core workforce. Several longtime Intel engineers, including Ronak Singhal and Rob Bruckner, have also departed this year as the company recruits new external talent to rebuild its AI leadership.