Intel shook up its executive staff again today, appointing former VMware CTO Greg Lavender as its new CTO and announcing the departure of longtime executive Navin Shenoy. Lavender fills the seat left by former Intel CTO Michael Mayberry who retired in late 2020.

Intel is also splitting its lucrative Data Platform Group (DPG) into two divisions, one focused on data center and artificial intelligence (AI) and another focused on networking and edge compute applications.

The shakeup marks the first major restructuring since former VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger was installed as CEO back in February, and the latest high-profile departure from VMware.

Lavender will also oversee the newly formed Software and Advanced Technology Group, which according to Intel, is tasked with driving Intel’s technical innovation and research programs, including Intel Labs.

The second group, called the Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics Group (AXG), will be led by Raja Koduri, who most recently served as Intel’s GM of architecture, graphics, and software. The new group will focus on expanding Intel’s influence in the high-performance computing (HPC) space, an area currently dominated by rival chipmaker Nvidia.

According to Intel, the AXG is chartered with delivering HPC and graphics solutions for integrated and discrete segments across the client, enterprise, and data center markets.

Intel reentered the GPU market last year with a series of products targeting cloud game streaming and consumer devices.

Intel also announced it would break up the DPG, formerly led by Shenoy, who joined the company more than a decade ago and took over as EVP of the DPG in early 2019. Shenoy’s departure, which is set for July 6, will see the business unit he once led broken into two new divisions: the Datacenter and AI Group and Network and Edge Group.

Taking on the Datacenter and AI group is Intel executive Sandra Rivera, who previously led the company’s Network Platforms Group. Rivera will oversee Intel’s data center products including the Xeon CPU family and FPGA portfolio. She will also be responsible for driving Intel’s AI strategy.

Rivera is joined by Nick McKeown, the co-founder and chief scientist at Barefoot Networks, which Intel acquired in 2019. He will serve as SVP and GM of the company’s newly formed Network and Edge group. The new group combines Intel’s Network Platforms Group, Internet of Things Group, and Connectivity Group into a single business.

“By putting Sandra, Raja, Nick, and Greg – with their decades of technology expertise – at the forefront of some of our most essential work, we will sharpen our focus and execution, accelerate innovation, and unleash the deep well of talent across the company,” Gelsinger said in a statement.

The past year has seen Intel slip from relative complacency as the market's unquestioned leader to fighting to defend its lofty position amid growing competition from long-time rival AMD and up-and-coming Arm chipmakers like Ampere and Amazon. These challenges drove Intel’s board to oust former CEO Bob Swan and implant the company’s former CTO, Gelsinger, as its leader earlier this year.

Since returning to Intel, Gelsinger has wasted little time reshaping the company’s future. Less than a month after taking over, Gelsinger announced Intel’s intent to open its foundry operations to contract manufacturing and a $20 billion investment to build two new foundries in Arizona. Two months later, Intel announced a $3.5 billion retrofit of its New Mexico foundry.

SiFive this week became the first chipmaker to announce plans to produce RISC-V chips in Intel’s foundries. The open source RISC-V processor architecture has gained wide appeal in recent months as an alternative to licensing Arm’s intellectual property.

The chips, which will reportedly be built on Intel’s long-delayed 7-nanometer process, are still a few years out. Intel won’t begin ramping production of 7-nanometer chips until early 2023.