I feel common misunderstandings towards semiconductor industry is due to the lack of awareness of how much of the world is enabled by semiconductors. Through the pandemic and semiconductor shortage, more people are now aware of how far-reaching semiconductor industry is based on the products that are short in supply. It is heartening to hear how our customers are using Xilinx products to help our society get through the challenging times of the pandemic.
It is an exciting time to be part of the combined company as bringing AMD and Xilinx together means that we now have the strongest portfolio spanning CPUs, GPUs, FPGAs and Adaptive SoCs, which enables our customers to innovate in the markets which they operate which includes data center, PCs, embedded, and gaming. An example would be the many projects related to metaverse, NFTs and cryptocurrencies that we are beginning to hear more of. Many of these projects would come and go. However, whichever way it goes in the future, I would be proud to be part of the company that has enabled these projects in some way. The new AMD covering diverse markets also mean that it would be a sustainable company that would stand the test of time and continue to enable the many waves of innovation of the future.
My hope for the industry is that we realize how much impact and responsibility we, as a community, have on the future of our world. Our world is getting more and more complex and no one company can accomplish everything on its own. Instead of companies trying to outperform the competition, I feel we must change our mindset to one of collaboration. How do we as the semiconductor ecosystem, work together and bring out the best of the talent pool we have among us. As AMD and Xilinx come together, the new AMD has started with the “Together, We Advance” mindset. This mindset should be extended to the semiconductor ecosystem. We can all thrive on collaboration.
Dr. Lisa Su, AMD President and CEO
“The acquisition of Xilinx brings together a highly complementary set of products, customers and markets combined with differentiated IP and world-class talent to create the industry’s high-performance and adaptive computing leader,” said AMD President and CEO Dr. Lisa Su. “Xilinx offers industry-leading FPGAs, adaptive SoCs, AI engines and software expertise that enable AMD to offer the strongest portfolio of high-performance and adaptive computing solutions in the industry and capture a larger share of the approximately $135 billion market opportunity we see across cloud, edge and intelligent devices.” (Note: In the recent announcement by Lisa Su in early June 2022, the estimation has grown to US$300 billion.)
Victor Peng, AMD President, Adaptive and Embedded Computing Group (Former Xilinx President and CEO)
“The rapid expansion of connected devices and data-intensive applications with embedded AI are driving the growing demand for highly efficient and adaptive high-performance computing solutions,” said Victor Peng, AMD President, Adaptive and Embedded Computing Group (Former Xilinx President and CEO). “Bringing AMD and Xilinx together will accelerate our ability to define this new era of computing by providing the most comprehensive portfolio of adaptive computing platforms capable of powering a wide range of intelligent applications.”
As part of the Singapore design team, I have been fortunate to have the support of the team to grow and develop and the opportunity today to lead a team of young engineers. I feel the way we groom and develop young talents must be adjusted to suit the complex world we are in today. For the new college graduates, communication is key. For example, communicating that terms like “Individual Contributor” does not mean that a single individual does everything from start to finish. It is almost always a team effort. At a team level, we need to be mindful of job design and role assignment. Due to increasing complexity, we sometimes must break down the team’s collective goals into small chunks at the risk of individuals losing the sense of ownership. Job design becomes a critical process where individuals each own a different aspect which collectively achieves the team’s goals. When we do role assignments, I feel we need to be aware if we are always assigning roles to the most competent person to meet short term needs. Being short term focused could mean that we deprive young talents of hands-on learning opportunities for their personal development. I am glad that the culture of the Singapore design team places importance to the talent development process that would give us the best chance for sustainability and a steady pipeline of talent that are ready to take on opportunities that present themselves as we grow our team.
“Together, We Advance”. Join us and be part of the journey.
Contributed by:
Joseph Yang
Design Manager, Singapore Design Center, AMD
