Intel Announces New Global Channel Chief, Regional Engagement Model, Other Changes: Exclusive

Longtime channel leader Dave Guzzi is taking over as Intel’s global channel chief after a short stint by his predecessor, and the semiconductor giant plans to introduce a new regional engagement model for partners among other changes coming in 2025, Intel exclusively tells CRN.

Intel has appointed a new global channel chief for a second time this year and revealed a new regional engagement model for partners among other channel changes coming in 2025.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company exclusively told CRN that the new leader of its global channel efforts is Dave Guzzi, a three-year Intel channel official who previously led the chipmaker’s U.S. channel board of advisors as a longtime leader and executive at solution provider companies, including Equus Compute Solutions.

Guzzi’s official title is vice president of global partners, and he is taking over from Trevor Vickers, who only became Intel’s global channel chief in January when his predecessor, John Kalvin, was chosen to lead a new Go To Market Operations group. Vickers has been moved to a new, undisclosed role within the company, according to Intel.

Guzzi’s new job was disclosed in a letter he and Julie Malloy, vice president of global partner marketing, were expected to send to partners on Wednesday outlining some of the changes coming to Intel’s global partner organization. Intel provided the letter to CRN.

“This is an exciting opportunity to strengthen collaboration with partners and drive our shared success,” Guzzi (pictured) said in a statement. “Intel is and always will be a channel-centric company. My number one priority is to ensure we’re doing everything possible to empower our partners to grow their business and I look forward to the work ahead.”

The semiconductor giant announced its new global channel chief and a slew of changes to its partner organization that Intel said reflect its deep commitment to partners after it told staff in August that it would cut costs in the Sales and Marketing Group by more than 35 percent by reducing headcount and simplifying programs, as CRN exclusively reported.

The SMG cuts and changes are part of a larger initiative by Intel to slash more than 15,000 jobs, or 15 percent of its total workforce, and over $10 million in costs in response to worsening financial conditions, which included a $1.6 billion net loss and lower-than-expected revenue in the second fiscal quarter.

In a mid-September update where Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger outlined changes that he said would improve the company’s competitiveness and profitability, he said the chipmaker reduced more than half of the 15,000 jobs targeted for elimination through early retirement packages and voluntary buyouts. The company plans to cut the remaining jobs through layoffs, and Gelsinger said impacted employees will be notified by mid-October.

‘Dave Is Just An Absolute Gift’

In an interview with CRN, Greg Ernst, corporate vice president and general manager of Intel’s Americas sales organization and global accounts, lauded Guzzi’s channel bona fides and outlined changes coming to Intel’s partner investment strategy next year.

“Dave is just an absolute gift. He left a really good career where he was a CEO of a channel partner to come to Intel. He was our president of our board of advisors for the channel builders. He led our distributor strategy. Now we've asked him to step in and take [over the] partner [organization] overall. And so he's comes from industry. He knows us really, really well, and [he’s] just a rock star,” Ernst said.

Guzzi came to Intel in 2021 to become general manager of global channel sales after serving as the CEO of Bloomington, Minn.-based Equus Compute Solutions for over two years. Concurrent to that job and previous executive roles at Waukesha, Wis.-based Dedicated Computing and Equus, he sat on Intel’s U.S. channel board of advisors for more than nine years, most recently acting as its president.

His channel roots go all the way back to 1989 when he founded a PC manufacturing and solutions business, according to his LinkedIn profile.

New Regional Engagement Model For Partners

Among the changes coming to Intel’s global partner organization, Ernst said the company will move to a new partner engagement model where each major region covered by Intel, including North America, will have its own channel leader.

The other regions that will get channel leaders are Latin America; Asia-Pacific Japan; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and India. Intel plans to announce the names of the new leaders later this year, according to Ernst.

These channel leaders will report to the sales leader in each region. For example, the North America and Latin America channel leaders will report to Ernst.

“The good news is we got a really wide bench of incredible people that are going to step into these roles. Almost all have grown up with partners, and so it's in their DNA. It's in their blood. I think that's important,” he said.

Ernst said the new engagement model will allow Intel to standardize the channel leader role for each region and provide more consistency for partners, which is especially important for solution providers who have locations in multiple regions.

“They need a predictable support model, and that's what this structure gets,” he said.

Intel To Focus Partner Investments in 44 Countries

In their letter to partners, Guzzi and Malloy said Intel plans focus its partner investments in 44 countries and regions “based on operational and economic considerations,” starting next year.

These kinds of investments cover partner activities like co-selling, co-marketing and co-engineering. However, this new mandate does not apply to rebates or pricing.

Ernst said while it “was possible to run programs in any country” where there were no geopolitical limitations, Intel was already spending a “vast majority” of its partner investments in the 44 selected countries and regions, which include the United States and other major geographies across its global coverage network.

The Americas sales leader said Intel plans to review the list of countries and regions for partner investments twice per year. He added that this move does not mean that Intel will stop selling in the countries not covered for partner investments.

“If there's emerging markets that our partners want to do business in, then we will evaluate that twice per year,” Ernst said.

An Intel spokesperson told CRN that the company is “concentrating our investments on our largest markets where we see the most significant opportunities for Intel and our partners.”

Other Channel Changes Coming To Intel

Among the other changes outlined by Guzzi and Malloy’s Wednesday letter to partners, Intel will remove the itemization requirement for proof of cost documents for market development fund (MDF) claims of up to $20,000 U.S. dollars, effective next year.

Ernst said this change was made in the “spirit of trust” Intel has with partners and added that it should help partners move faster in doing business with the chipmaker.

“There are quite a few programs that we do with partners that are under $20,000, so it's a big part of our motions. And so the partners are going to be pumped by this one,” he said.

Intel also plans to start reimbursing partners at a “streamlined, quarterly cadence,” according to Guzzi and Malloy’s letter.

In the past, some Intel reimbursements to partners were issued monthly while others were quarterly, according to Ernst.

“What this gives us just predictability to the partners so that they can plan their finances, and then our claims processes all feed into it,” he said.

In their letter to partners, Guzzi and Malloy said Intel made these changes reflect where the chipmaker sees the “greatest opportunities for innovation and growth” as it becomes a “more lean and agile company.”

“We are deeply committed to our partner ecosystem and are consistently evolving when we see opportunities to action your feedback, simplify programs, and deliver increased value,” they wrote.

Ernst Reiterates Intel’s Focus On CPUs, Gaudi Chips

Ernst said while it’s important for Intel to “maximize the value” it brings to partners through its employees and programs, it’s equally, if not more important for the chipmaker to do so with its products, namely its CPUs and Gaudi accelerator chips.

“I think we surprised a lot of people on the credible value of the products that we've launched recently. And at the end of the day, that's what the partners need from us,” he said.

Recently launched products include Intel’s Core Ultra 200V processors for laptops and other small form factor PCs with AI capabilities. Code-named Lunar Lake, the chips have been shown to deliver 24 hours of battery life, according to Ernst.

“With all of our service providers, resellers, everyone's abuzz. And frankly, it's a product right now that IT wants and needs,” he said.

Ernst also pointed to the new Xeon 6900P server CPUs, which Intel has said will deliver “significant gains” in performance and performance-per-watt over the previous generation.

“The first customers that we've taken this to, whether [directly] or through partners, [are] really [lining] up to start making purchases,” he said.

Lastly, Ernst cited the company’s new Gaudi 3 AI accelerator chip, which Intel has positioned as a cost-effective alternative to Nvidia GPUs for AI systems. He said the company has seen early momentum with partners and customers like IBM Cloud, Denvr Dataworks and Inflection AI, the latter of which was disclosed on Monday.

Now that Intel has lined up OEM support for Gaudi 3 with Dell Technologies, Supermicro, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Lenovo and other server vendors, the partners have a product that they “can rally around,” according to Ernst.

“We've done a lot of learning with partners of how to sell the product, implement the product support, and now I feel now we're ready for scale, and the partners are going to be key for that,” he said.