• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, January 6, 2025

Intel needs a “renewed focus on creating world-class products,” Co-Chief Executive Michelle Johnston Holthaus said during the Intel keynote at CES, adding that 2025 is a year to harness the technology in new ways. 

The company is seeking a permanent leader. Its CEO, Pat Gelsinger, was pushed out in December after the board of directors lost confidence in his turnaround plan. What better way for the company to regain its footing than with a product person at the helm?

Johnston Holthaus is acting co-CEO with David Zinsner. During the Barclays 22nd Annual Global Technology Conference, they acknowledged they need to improve products that can earn customer trust.

That trust could come from branding -- something like the brilliant 1991 campaign, Intel Inside, which helped to make Intel a household name. It was created to educate consumers about the company’s products, now led by Johnston Holthaus. She has been at Intel since 2003.

Intel on Monday presented the CES 2025 keynote showing what is possible on the AI PC. The company introduced a variety of chips and processors, including the Arrow Lake AI chips for gaming laptops. 

The company unveiled AI-focused processors such as the Core Ultra 200H and Core Ultra 200HX. These chips cater to two distinct yet demanding user segments —performance-focused thin and light notebooks and gaming laptops requiring discrete GPUs.

Intel had struggled under the company's last CEO. It should have on AI rather than trying to become a contract chipmaker, Morris Chang, the founder of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, told Reuters in December, in relation to the recent departure of Gelsinger.

With Johnston Holthaus -- who is a product expert -- now at the helm, Global Equities Research, an analyst firm, had hoped Intel would launch a new advertising or branding campaign, AI Inside, a spinoff of the infamous branding campaign launched by Andy Grove, then Intel CEO.

Intel’s Vice President of Corporate Marketing at the time -- Dennis Carter -- and his team were tasked with making Intel more visible -- similar to what Johnston Holthaus will need to do in the era of AI. She will need to find a way to make Intel relevant again.

This year Intel will share the AI spotlight with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who is expected to outline how AI and accelerated computing will reshape the future of industries.

Intel’s Sales and Marketing Group (SMG) in August 2024 targeted a 35% reduction in costs. The cost-cutting was announced during an all-hands meeting for the group on August 5, reported the publication tom’s Hardware. The group works with companies to help solve business problems using Intel technologies.

The cut affected jobs and marketing expenses. Employees were given the order to “simplify programs end-to-end” by the end of 2024 after the company announced it would layoff 15% of its workforce. But 2025 might bring a new perspective with a heightened focus on AI for Intel.

AI certainly led to a new direction for Brainiest CEO Alan Steinberg when he co-founded the marketing firm with Mike McGowan, and Scott Goble. They introduced Astro Brainstorming to support small and mid-size businesses. The tool aims to help business owners fine tune marketing strategies with an AI-driven conversational interface. All three co-founders have roots at Intel.