Intel Names Former SK Hynix CEO Seok-Hee Lee to Lead Advanced Packaging for Intel Foundry
Intel is strengthening its foundry ambitions with a major leadership appointment. The company has named Seok-Hee Lee, former president and CEO of SK Hynix, as executive vice president of Intel Foundry, where he will oversee advanced packaging, system integration, back-end technology development, and back-end manufacturing.
Lee will report directly to Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, placing him in a central role as Intel works to expand its foundry business and compete more aggressively in next-generation chip manufacturing.
The appointment highlights Intel’s growing focus on advanced packaging, a critical area for modern semiconductors as artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, networking, and memory technologies become increasingly interconnected. Rather than relying only on traditional chip scaling, the semiconductor industry is moving toward more complex system-level designs that combine multiple chiplets and technologies into a single package.
Intel is now treating advanced packaging as a dedicated business area with its own leadership structure. This move reflects how important packaging has become for improving performance, power efficiency, and heterogeneous integration in AI and data center systems.
Lip-Bu Tan said advanced packaging and system integration are becoming essential capabilities for the next generation of computing. He noted that Lee brings significant experience managing large-scale technology and manufacturing operations, along with a strong record of execution.
Tan also emphasized that Lee’s expertise will help Intel connect advanced logic, memory, networking, and other components more effectively for Intel Foundry customers. This is especially important as Intel prepares to scale advanced packaging technologies such as EMIB-T and HBI for high-volume production.
Seok-Hee Lee brings decades of semiconductor experience to the role. Most recently, he served as president and CEO of SK On, and before that, he led SK Hynix, one of the world’s major memory manufacturers. His background also includes engineering leadership roles at Intel earlier in his career, as well as academic experience.
Lee described Intel as uniquely positioned to lead in advanced packaging as demand grows for system-level integration in AI and high-performance computing. He also said he is excited to return to Intel and help advance the company’s technology leadership, manufacturing capabilities, and commitments to customers.
The leadership change is part of a broader restructuring of Intel Foundry’s operating model. Naga Chandrasekaran, executive vice president of Intel Foundry, will continue reporting to Lip-Bu Tan and will remain responsible for front-end technology development and front-end manufacturing.
Chandrasekaran will focus on accelerating Intel’s upcoming process technologies, including Intel 18A, Intel 14A, and future manufacturing nodes. He will also continue to oversee design enablement and customer-facing business functions that support Intel Foundry’s growth.
By separating front-end manufacturing from advanced packaging and back-end operations, Intel is aiming to create a more focused and scalable structure. The company says this will help improve speed, consistency, and predictability for customers and partners.
Intel also announced that executive vice president Navid Shahriari will retire after a 37-year career at the company.
The appointment of Seok-Hee Lee comes at a pivotal moment for Intel. As AI workloads drive demand for more powerful and efficient computing platforms, advanced packaging is becoming one of the most important technologies in the semiconductor industry. With Lee leading this area, Intel Foundry is positioning itself to play a larger role in the future of chip design, system integration, and high-volume advanced manufacturing.
