Ex-Intel exec, Raja Koduri, blames the bureaucratic 'Powerpoint snakes' within the company for its current issues: 'These processes multiply and coil around engineers'
Raja Koduri, the former chief architect and executive vice president of Intel's architecture, graphics and software division, has written an X article outlining his thoughts on the troubled waters Intel currently finds itself in. In his piece, he highlights Intel's current «treasures and snakes» and what he believes is the way forward for the company. Essentially, as he sums up in an accompanying tweet, «You don't learn when you don't ship.»
Intel's treasures, according to Koduri, are its IP and technology, with many innovations left «sitting on shelf.» The contrasting snakes, however, are defined as the bureaucratic process that Koruri sees as dominating corporate decision making, leaving innovation behind.
«They optimize for minimizing quarterly losses while missing the bigger picture. These processes multiply and coil around engineers, constraining their ability to execute on the product roadmap with the boldness it requires.
»A climate of fear surrounds any attempt at skunkworks initiatives outside established processes—one misstep, and the bureaucratic snakes strike. This environment has bred a pervasive 'learned helplessness' throughout the engineering ranks, stifling the very innovation culture that built Intel's empire."
That's certainly some evocative imagery. The piece itself is accompanied by an AI-generated image showing an Intel coder being quite literally strangled by snakes labelled «coordinators» while an exec looks on. Another figure in the background has the word «Zombies» written on his forehead.
Under the heading «Let chaos reign and then rein in chaos» (attributed to ex-Intel CEO Andy Grove), Koduri continues:
«Let's dissect this a bit. Why would you let any chaos reign? Isn't all chaos bad? The answer is no. There is good chaos and bad chaos. Good chaos forces you to invent and change.
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»Good chaos generally comes in from external events. Bad
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