[CEONEWS = Reporter Kim So-young] As of 2025, there is one name you cannot leave out when discussing the global semiconductor industry: Lisa Su, CEO of AMD. When she took the helm in 2014, AMD’s share price hovered around $3. Eleven years later, the company’s market capitalization has surpassed ₩250 trillion. This is more than a rise in corporate value—it is an “industrial-era miracle” forged by a woman leader. The journey of Lisa Su, who rose from the daughter of Taiwanese immigrants to one of Silicon Valley’s top CEOs, goes far beyond a personal success story. It is a modern epic showing what happens when technology, leadership, and human will intersect. Above all, her story offers a profound reflection on how to revive a company on the brink and what true leadership looks like.
■ The Immigrant Dream, the Unfolding of Genius
▲ The American Dream Begun in the Bronx, New York
Born in Tainan, Taiwan, in 1969, Lisa Su’s life began as the classic struggle of an immigrant family. Her father, Su Chun-sung, who studied statistics, and her mother, Luo Huafeng, who studied accounting, headed to the Bronx, New York, in 1974 with their seven-year-old daughter. The Bronx at the time suffered from high crime and economic hardship, but for the Su family it was a land of possibility.
Her parents were quintessential Asian immigrant parents, marked by a fierce passion for education and an intense desire for their child’s success. Her mother—who had also majored in piano—instilled not merely technical skills but a “pursuit of perfection” and “persistence.” This became the mental bedrock that later allowed Su to stand out in the complex world of semiconductors.
Gifted in math and science from an early age, Su entered MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering at 17—exceptional for the time. As an undergraduate she became fascinated with semiconductor physics, immersing herself in research to improve silicon’s electrical properties.
■ From MIT to IBM, Cementing Her Identity as a Technologist
After earning her bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. at MIT, Su joined IBM Research in 1994. There she worked on Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) technology and began attracting attention across the semiconductor industry. SOI significantly boosts chip performance while lowering power consumption.
Over 15 years at IBM, Su grew from researcher to leader, pairing deep technical expertise with the ability to lead teams. Colleagues remember her as “a leader who understands technology in depth and knows how to move people’s hearts.”
A pivotal turn came in 2007 when she moved to Freescale Semiconductor, taking charge of a large business unit and fully developing her managerial skill set. Although Freescale struggled in the market, the experience taught her “leadership under crisis.”
■ From Despair to Hope: The AMD Rescue Operation
▲ AMD at the Edge of the Valley of Death
When Su became AMD’s CEO in 2014, the situation was bleak. The stock languished in the $3 range and market share kept falling. Intel all but dominated CPUs, while NVIDIA held overwhelming superiority in graphics. Many analysts doubted AMD’s survival.
But Su refused to yield. In her first all-hands meeting, she told employees: “We’re in a tough spot, but this isn’t the end—it’s a new beginning. We have great technology and talent. The problem is we haven’t focused them in the right direction.”
▲ Focused Choice—and Bold Investment
Su’s first strategy was “select and focus.” She decisively shed low-margin businesses and concentrated resources on CPU and GPU development. Her spotlight fell on the Zen architecture—AMD’s long-gestating next-gen CPU design that had stalled for lack of resources.
She bet the company’s future on Zen. Emphasizing that “we must build products that not only excel technically but also win in the market,” she pushed tight collaboration between engineering and marketing.
Launched in 2017, the Ryzen CPU was a true game-changer, delivering superior performance at more attractive prices than comparable Intel chips. It marked the pivotal moment when AMD regained competitiveness after years in Intel’s shadow.
▲ Leadership of Empathy and Communication
Perhaps most striking about Su’s leadership is her “empathy.” True to her engineering roots, she dives deeply into technical details—a powerful asset in communicating with staff. Employees say they felt “the CEO genuinely understands our work.”
She also built a culture unafraid of failure. “Failure is a learning opportunity. What matters is learning from it and moving forward,” she says—instilling a spirit of challenge across AMD.
■ A Pioneer of the AI Era, Designing the Future
▲ Challenging NVIDIA’s Citadel with an AI Strategy
Today Su’s central focus is artificial intelligence. Since ChatGPT’s rise, AI chips have exploded—and NVIDIA has near-monopoly scale. Su sees opportunity.
“AI isn’t a fad; it’s a foundational force transforming every industry,” she stresses, channeling AMD’s resources into AI semiconductors. The MI300 series launched in 2023 is the fruit of that effort, widely evaluated as competitive with NVIDIA’s H100.
Equally important, Su is building software ecosystems, not just hardware. Through the ROCm platform—an answer to NVIDIA’s CUDA—she’s making AMD chips easier for developers to use.
▲ AI Everywhere: The Future of Edge Computing
Su’s AI vision goes beyond data centers. She targets “AI in every device”—PCs, smartphones, cars, even home appliances.
To that end, AMD is focusing on low-power, high-efficiency AI chips. “AI must operate not only in the cloud but everywhere around us,” she argues—proposing a new paradigm for the semiconductor industry.
■ Gender and Diversity: A New Model of Leadership
▲ A Woman Leader Who Shattered the Glass Ceiling
Female CEOs are still rare in Silicon Valley—especially in traditionally male-dominated semiconductors. Su has not only survived but delivered top-tier results.
When asked about gender, she says, “What matters is not gender but ability.” Yet her very presence profoundly inspires women in STEM.
Fortune has named her among “the most powerful women in business,” and TIME has included her in the “100 most influential people in the world,” evidence that her impact extends beyond corporate management to society at large.
▲ Innovation Through Diversity
Su understands the importance of organizational diversity. Drawing on her own experience as a minority, she has made AMD more inclusive—identifying and nurturing talent regardless of gender, race, or background.
She believes “real innovation happens when people from diverse backgrounds come together,” a conviction now embedded in AMD’s culture. The company ranks high on diversity indices even among Silicon Valley peers.
■ Challenges and Prospects on the Road Ahead
▲ Conditions for Sustainable Growth
Despite AMD’s dramatic comeback, many challenges remain. Intel is still a giant competitor, and NVIDIA holds commanding power in AI. Add to that the U.S.–China tech rivalry and geopolitical risk.
Su views these as opportunities for growth: “The tougher the competition, the more innovative we must be.” She continues to prioritize R&D and talent. Of particular interest is “sustainable computing.” With AI and data centers surging, power demand is soaring; developing energy-efficient semiconductors has become essential. AMD already leads in this area, and Su intends to extend that lead.
▲ Grooming Next-Generation Leaders and Culture
Su is also cultivating successors. “Great leaders create successors better than themselves,” she says. A cadre of young leaders steeped in her philosophy is rising at AMD.
The culture she built—“dare to fail” and “pursue technical excellence”—has become AMD’s greatest asset, systematized beyond one person’s leadership into organizational capability.
■ The Master Architect of Transformative Change
Lisa Su’s story is not merely a tale of corporate success. It offers deep insight into reviving organizations in crisis and into the essence of true leadership.
She has demonstrated three core virtues of leadership: first, deep technical understanding and expertise; second, the courage and resolve to make hard decisions; third, the human capacity to empathize and communicate.
From near bankruptcy in 2014 to a ₩250 trillion global enterprise in 2025—AMD’s transformation is a miracle wrought by an exceptional leader. Behind it lay meticulous strategy, relentless effort, and a genuine faith in people.
Her journey isn’t over. As the AI era truly dawns, even bigger challenges and opportunities await. Judging by the leadership she has shown, those challenges will likely become launchpads for new successes. The astonishing tale of an immigrant’s daughter who rose to become Silicon Valley’s queen is one of our age’s most compelling epics of what happens when dreams meet effort—and the most exciting chapters are still being written.
Copyright ⓒ CEONEWS 무단 전재 및 재배포 금지
본 콘텐츠는 뉴스픽 파트너스에서 공유된 콘텐츠입니다.
