Top Execs Out At AMD In Major Reshuffle

Mario Rivas, chief of AMD's computing solutions group, and Michel Cadieux, head of human resources, have parted ways with AMD, according to the chip maker. AMD has had some notable losses on the executive front in the past year. Rivas and Cadieux join former CTO Phil Hester, who left last month, and ex-sales chief Henri Richard and Visual Media Business chief Dave Orton, both of whom departed late last summer.

AMD has suffered losses in six straight quarters and last month announced layoffs of about 1,600 workers from 16,800 worldwide, to be completed by the end of the third quarter of this year. It was not clear whether Rivas' and Cadieux's departures would count towards the downsizing total. AMD has stated that Hester's exit was not part of the layoffs.

Randy Allen, GM of AMD's server/workstation division, appears to be Rivas' successor as head of the computing solutions group. Allen, who last week delivered a major update to AMD's server roadmap, has been named senior vice president of the computing solutions group and will report directly to AMD president and COO Dirk Meyer.

Allen Sockwell has been named head of human resources.

"We are accelerating AMD's transformation, reshaping the organization and bolstering our management team to lead in our x86 microprocessor and graphics businesses," said Meyer in a statement that also introduced a newly formed organization in the company called Centralized Engineering.

"Placing experienced leaders in new, more focused roles will enhance our execution and progress towards sustained profitability and long-term success. The creation of a Centralized Engineering organization aligns and focuses AMD's world-class engineers and intellectual property portfolio on the strong business opportunities in front of us."

The new Centralized Engineering organization will be led by newcomer Chekib Akrout, formerly a VP of design technology at Freescale Semiconductor, and internal selection Jeff VerHeul, a VP of design engineering at AMD.