This marks Intel’s third sales leadership change in three months after the semiconductor giant appointed former Marvell Technology executives Dean Jarnac and Sunil Kaul as chief sales officer and the leader of global hyperscale and data center sales, respectively.
Intel has appointed a new sales leader for its U.S. government business a few months after the chipmaker’s CEO replaced its top sales executive with an outsider.
Rob Gillis, a 12-year Intel veteran, said in a Monday LinkedIn post that he has become general manager of government go-to-market and sales for Intel Government Technologies, the subsidiary that works with defense companies and systems integrators to deliver technology solutions to U.S. government customers.
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Gillis, who spent the past four years as the subsidiary’s technical sales director, is taking over from Greg Clifton, a 26-year Intel veteran who announced his departure on LinkedIn last Friday after serving as the company’s federal sales leader for three years.
An Intel spokesperson confirmed to CRN that Gillis has “stepped into the role leading Intel’s public sector sales team, providing continuity for our customers and partners.”
The representative also thanked Clifton for his “more than 26 years of service to Intel and our public sector customers,” wishing him the “very best in retirement.”
“Intel remains committed to delivering for our government customers and partners and has strong leadership in place to support them,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
This marks Intel’s third sales leadership change in three months after its CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, appointed former Marvell Technology executive Dean Jarnac in August to replace Greg Ernst as the company’s top sales leader. Another former Marvell executive, Sunil Kaul, came to Intel almost two months later as the leader of global hyperscale and data center sales.
Ernst, a 27-year Intel veteran, had served as Tan’s chief revenue officer for a little more than a year. Last week, he was announced as the new chief business officer for Milpitas, Calif.-based storage and memory silicon vendor ScaleFlux.
The latest leadership change was disclosed days after Intel reported a disappointing sales and profit forecast for the fourth quarter, which the company largely blamed on a PC slowdown, industry-wide substrate shortages and CPU manufacturing issues.
Bob Venero, CEO of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based solution provider Future Tech Enterprise, told CRN on Wednesday that the leadership change is happening as the U.S. government, particularly the Department of Defense, is seeking to work with smaller systems integrators to speed up the rate at which it can procure technologies.
“Everything to them now is about speed,” he said.
This puts the impetus on government suppliers like Intel to become nimbler too, according to Venero, whose company has been a longtime channel partner to the chipmaker.
“Now it’s hard for a company like Intel to be nimble, so what you have to do within [different] segments is to be nimble within those segments,” he said.
Clifton Says He Left Intel For ‘New And Exciting Chapter’
In a LinkedIn post, Gillis thanked his team, customers and partners, adding that he’s “proud to work alongside an incredible team that shows up every day ready to listen, solve problems, and help customers connect technology to their mission.”
“Our government customers and partners are working on important, complex missions,” Gillis wrote. “We have the privilege of listening closely, understanding their needs, and bringing Intel’s technology and engineering capabilities to help solve today’s biggest challenges.”
In Clifton’s farewell post, the former Intel government sales leader said he’s “stepping away to begin a new and exciting chapter,” though he didn’t disclose any job plans.
His departure came a little more than a year after the former business leader of Intel Government Technologies, Christopher George, left the chipmaker. This past August, Nvidia appointed George as vice president of public sector, according to his LinkedIn page.
Intel’s relationship with the U.S. government saw a big change last year when the Trump administration moved to take a nearly 10 percent stake in the chipmaker using previously awarded grant money from the Biden administration.
Tan told Japanese newspaper Nikkei last month that the U.S. government’s stake in Intel is required to help the company grow its contract manufacturing business, Intel Foundry, but added that the Trump administration doesn’t have “any policy” to meddle with its strategy.
