WEBVTT - Lisa Su 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:10.559 Hi, everyone, em Emily Chang and this is Bloomberg Studio 0:00:10.680 --> 0:00:13.800 one point oh. The race to design the most powerful 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:17.239 computer processors is one of the most intense sports in 0:00:17.280 --> 0:00:21.439 the technology industry. When Lisa Sue, an engineer by training, 0:00:21.560 --> 0:00:25.000 took over a m D, she not only became the 0:00:25.040 --> 0:00:28.920 first female CEO of a major semiconductor company, she also 0:00:29.040 --> 0:00:32.680 kicked off one of the biggest transformations in industry history, 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:36.040 turning a lagging maker of low end chips into a 0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:40.000 juggernaut known for the superior performance of its products. Shares 0:00:40.040 --> 0:00:42.839 are up more than two thousand percent under her tenure, 0:00:43.040 --> 0:00:46.400 and a m D chips short for advanced micro devices, 0:00:46.680 --> 0:00:50.360 are now embedded in everything from Microsoft's Xbox to Sony 0:00:50.440 --> 0:00:56.360 PlayStation and Apple Max to massive data center machinery. Semiconductors 0:00:56.560 --> 0:00:59.200 the brains, or you could call them the guts of 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:01.960 all of our device is never got that much glory 0:01:02.120 --> 0:01:05.200 until the start of the COVID nineteen pandemic, when demand 0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:08.400 for chips shot up so much so fast it triggered 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:13.360 an unprecedented global shortage, raising alarm from Washington to Beijing, 0:01:13.920 --> 0:01:16.440 joining me to talk about when the chip shortage will end. 0:01:16.760 --> 0:01:19.280 How she turned the company around and what's next for 0:01:19.360 --> 0:01:22.280 a m D on this edition of Bloomberg Studio One point, 0:01:22.280 --> 0:01:29.280 Oh Am, D CEO Lisa Sue, you called an inflection 0:01:29.360 --> 0:01:32.360 point for a m D given the robust demand for 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:37.080 everything from PCs two consoles, to data centers and laptops. 0:01:37.480 --> 0:01:44.080 I was an inflection point. What's It's a great question, um, Emily. 0:01:44.160 --> 0:01:47.360 You know, I think when you look at UM the 0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:51.280 pace of technology, right, we we we've been developing you know, 0:01:51.320 --> 0:01:53.760 these technologies for like, you know, five years, right, So 0:01:53.800 --> 0:01:56.520 we made these decisions on hey, this is where computing 0:01:56.600 --> 0:02:00.120 is going. And UM was a phenomenal year. You know, 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:03.320 we grew revenue for year on year. It was an 0:02:03.320 --> 0:02:07.040 inflection point for our business. Now as we come to one, 0:02:07.280 --> 0:02:11.560 what we see is it's a megacycle for UM for compute. 0:02:11.560 --> 0:02:14.480 I mean it's like, UM, you know, if you had 0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:16.680 asked me a couple of years ago, would we have 0:02:16.960 --> 0:02:20.880 this kind of demand, whether you're talking about UM, you know, 0:02:21.000 --> 0:02:25.160 PCs or gaming products or the data center I I 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:28.560 would have been surprised. And so it's a megacycle for compute. 0:02:28.880 --> 0:02:30.960 And on top of that, UM, you know, we have 0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:34.519 you know, just extremely strong you know, product portfolio and 0:02:34.680 --> 0:02:37.480 and so on. So yeah, it's it's a megacycle. That's 0:02:37.480 --> 0:02:40.400 what I would call A and D chips are at 0:02:40.400 --> 0:02:44.040 the heart of the Sony, PlayStation, Microsoft, Xbox, laptops of 0:02:44.080 --> 0:02:48.679 all kinds, apples, Mac Pro, Amazon data centers. What are 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:51.120 the new products that you have targeted to meet this 0:02:51.160 --> 0:02:54.480 new demand? Well, so for a M d our, our 0:02:54.520 --> 0:02:58.160 focus sort of what we're good at is high performance computing. 0:02:58.360 --> 0:03:00.560 So when you think about you know, um, you know, 0:03:00.600 --> 0:03:04.000 computing and processors, they're really you know, the brains of 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:06.639 you know, all of the things that that we use 0:03:06.680 --> 0:03:09.639 on a daily basis and um, you know. So for 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:13.720 our products, it's around high performance PCs. So you know, 0:03:13.720 --> 0:03:17.760 when you're thinking about your next generation notebook, um, and uh, 0:03:17.800 --> 0:03:20.040 you're thinking about all the productivity you want. I hope 0:03:20.080 --> 0:03:22.519 you're thinking about a M d Um it's the next 0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:25.920 generation game consoles are actually the current generation game consoles. 0:03:26.000 --> 0:03:30.440 I think, uh, Microsoft and Sony with Xbox and PlayStation 0:03:30.480 --> 0:03:33.880 of just put out phenomenal products that are extremely, um, 0:03:33.880 --> 0:03:36.360 extremely exciting, and we're proud to be a part of that. 0:03:36.640 --> 0:03:39.320 And then it is about your data center and what's 0:03:39.360 --> 0:03:41.560 beneath you know, what's what's you know, sort of behind 0:03:41.600 --> 0:03:44.839 the scenes and um, you know, all the digital transformation 0:03:44.880 --> 0:03:47.240 that companies are doing, the fact that you know we 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:50.240 all pivoted to work from home and and running you know, 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:53.400 large scale businesses. UM. You know from our study, I 0:03:53.400 --> 0:03:56.360 mean that right requires incredible computing course power in the 0:03:56.360 --> 0:03:59.120 back end, UM, in the cloud or in on prem 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:01.760 data centers. So are the types of products that that 0:04:01.800 --> 0:04:05.080 we're in. How far in advanced you plan your products? 0:04:05.080 --> 0:04:07.160 And how do you know you'll have what the world 0:04:07.240 --> 0:04:10.320 wants by the time they're ready. That that is the 0:04:10.480 --> 0:04:13.360 in fact, the most difficult thing and probably the most 0:04:13.400 --> 0:04:16.240 fun thing. It's it's it's really we have to think 0:04:16.640 --> 0:04:19.000 three to five years in advance, and we have to think, hey, 0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:21.120 these are the things that are going to be most important. 0:04:21.279 --> 0:04:25.359 And it's about providing you know, more performance and smaller 0:04:25.400 --> 0:04:28.880 form factors. It's about um having um, you know, very 0:04:28.920 --> 0:04:33.520 extended battery life. It's about providing new experiences. UM. It's 0:04:33.520 --> 0:04:37.040 about enabling companies and businesses to do something that they 0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:40.040 couldn't do before. And we do plan years in advance. 0:04:40.200 --> 0:04:42.000 But I will tell you, Emily, what this year has 0:04:42.000 --> 0:04:44.960 taught us is we can turn on a dime and UM. 0:04:44.960 --> 0:04:49.120 We have been very actively, you know, working with our customers, 0:04:49.120 --> 0:04:52.239 working with our partners on what their top priorities are 0:04:52.640 --> 0:04:55.600 and UM and that turning on a dime has proven 0:04:55.640 --> 0:05:01.240 to be a very useful UH capability meantime. The chip shortage, 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:03.479 I've been talking to a lot of chip industry CEOs 0:05:03.480 --> 0:05:05.599 over the last several months, and it sounds like it 0:05:05.640 --> 0:05:10.000 has been a disaster. You have demand outstripping supply by 0:05:10.160 --> 0:05:14.120 more than what are you seeing? You know, I don't 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:17.280 think I would use the word UM disaster, Emily, I 0:05:17.320 --> 0:05:20.040 would use the word UM. It is a it is 0:05:20.080 --> 0:05:23.320 a cycle. And you know, semiconductors, you know, I mean, 0:05:23.360 --> 0:05:25.960 I've been in this industry whatever twenty five years or 0:05:26.120 --> 0:05:29.839 a long time. Semi Conductors do go through these cycles 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:33.680 and the cycles where there's sometimes when UM supply is 0:05:33.760 --> 0:05:37.000 much greater than demand, and there're sometimes when demand is 0:05:37.080 --> 0:05:40.440 much greater than supply. And this particular cycle is special 0:05:40.720 --> 0:05:45.039 because what we're seeing is UM the incredible demand for 0:05:45.080 --> 0:05:49.360 all things UM that require chips is having sort of 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:53.800 all markets UM, you know, sort of wanting more, more, 0:05:53.960 --> 0:05:56.880 more supply. And yes, it's a lot to manage but 0:05:56.960 --> 0:05:59.359 I have to tell you this industry is also really 0:05:59.400 --> 0:06:02.040 good at man udging these things, and UM, you know, 0:06:02.240 --> 0:06:05.719 it does take a while for the supply and demand UM, 0:06:05.760 --> 0:06:09.080 you know, imbalance to uh to balance itselves out. UM, 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:12.160 but we are very much working together as an industry, 0:06:12.200 --> 0:06:14.680 and you know, I'm just amazed frankly at what people 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:16.479 are able to do when they really put their minds 0:06:16.520 --> 0:06:20.040 to it. Once the shortage ends, then is there going 0:06:20.080 --> 0:06:24.599 to be too much supply? Will supply outpaced demand? Well? UM, 0:06:24.640 --> 0:06:27.400 as cycles go, you know, you do go through ups 0:06:27.400 --> 0:06:31.360 and downs. I think what's important, Emily is UM it's 0:06:31.400 --> 0:06:35.600 it's also the strength of the product portfolio, the markets 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:38.200 UM that we're addressing. You know, at a m D 0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:41.880 we've chosen markets UM that we think are very resilient, 0:06:42.040 --> 0:06:44.960 Like everyone's going to need more computing, you know, whether 0:06:45.040 --> 0:06:50.280 it's this year. We just think communing computing is one 0:06:50.320 --> 0:06:53.280 of those trends that, UM, that you're going to need 0:06:53.320 --> 0:06:55.560 more of, and so we've been investing in those types 0:06:55.600 --> 0:06:57.760 of areas. So you know, my view of the world 0:06:58.080 --> 0:07:00.840 is that, UM, it's important to the right products, it's 0:07:00.839 --> 0:07:03.040 important to be in the right markets, and then UM, 0:07:03.080 --> 0:07:06.600 of course UH you know, executing well along the way. 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:09.560 Am D is one of several companies that has sent 0:07:09.600 --> 0:07:13.480 a letter to President Biden urging him to include more 0:07:13.480 --> 0:07:18.120 funding for chip manufacturing and research in the United States, 0:07:19.280 --> 0:07:22.160 adding that that you know, it's competition with China, it's 0:07:22.200 --> 0:07:25.480 competition with Taiwan that is at stake. What do you 0:07:25.520 --> 0:07:28.800 think the US needs to do well? I think the 0:07:29.000 --> 0:07:32.239 US is the leader and semi conductors, and we want 0:07:32.280 --> 0:07:35.360 to stay the leader and semi conductors. And frankly, UM, 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:37.920 you know, many of the countries around the world are 0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:40.280 investing in the same UM. And then there's also a 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:44.160 discussion about manufacturing and ensuring that there's a good balance 0:07:44.320 --> 0:07:47.920 of manufacturing across UM the globe as well. So I think, 0:07:48.160 --> 0:07:50.000 you know, all of those UM kind of raised the 0:07:50.080 --> 0:07:52.280 level of importance of semi conductors, and I think it's 0:07:52.400 --> 0:07:55.680 UM it's great that the administration is choosing, you know, 0:07:55.760 --> 0:07:59.080 this industry as one of the priorities to ensure that, 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:02.760 you know, the U US maintains its leadership in semiconductors. 0:08:03.440 --> 0:08:06.200 A and D chose Taiwan semi Conductor to make A 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:09.800 and D chips, and I wonder is there something about Taiwan. Well, 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:11.920 you know, what is the reason for this very prolific 0:08:11.960 --> 0:08:15.480 industry there and you know, producing so much top tech 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:20.480 chip talent UM. Is there something about the island that 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:23.760 makes it so fruitful. We're very happy with our partnership 0:08:23.840 --> 0:08:26.760 with you know, Taiwan Semi Conductor UM. You know, they're 0:08:26.880 --> 0:08:29.679 they're they're actually the best in the industry. And so 0:08:30.000 --> 0:08:34.160 you know, when we think about taking our design, you know, capability, 0:08:34.240 --> 0:08:36.280 which we think is you know, at the top of 0:08:36.280 --> 0:08:40.079 the industry, and combine it with their manufacturing expertise that's 0:08:40.120 --> 0:08:43.720 the best in the industry. That's how you get sort 0:08:43.720 --> 0:08:46.520 of the best products and UM. And so certainly we're 0:08:46.800 --> 0:08:49.320 we're happy with that. But I think the key is 0:08:49.360 --> 0:08:52.600 sort of investing in that long term nature and ensuring 0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:56.240 that you have UM, you know, the right capabilities UM 0:08:56.400 --> 0:08:59.640 for this industry because frankly, it does take you know, 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:03.760 many many, you know, double digit billions to UM keep 0:09:03.760 --> 0:09:07.240 pushing the leading edge. Meantime, here in the US you 0:09:07.280 --> 0:09:13.000 have many trillion dollar companies Apple, Amazon, Google bringing their 0:09:13.080 --> 0:09:17.840 chip designs in house. Where does that leave a m D. 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:22.600 Does that feel like a competitive threat? Well, I look 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:25.240 at it, UM slightly differently. I look at it as 0:09:25.520 --> 0:09:29.480 the UM, you know the importance of computing in all 0:09:29.600 --> 0:09:32.840 products is just going up and up and up, and 0:09:32.920 --> 0:09:35.240 so as you see, you know, there will always be 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:39.360 some specialization. And you know, um, you know very very UM. 0:09:39.440 --> 0:09:41.160 You know some of some of the companies you mentioned, 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:44.720 you know, certainly Amazon and Apple are very very strong companies. Um, 0:09:44.760 --> 0:09:48.080 they will do some specialization of their chips. UM that 0:09:48.200 --> 0:09:50.360 being the case. I mean, you know, we just started 0:09:50.400 --> 0:09:52.400 with you know, two thousand twenty one is you know, 0:09:52.400 --> 0:09:55.880 sort of where in a megacycle of computing, right, So UM, 0:09:55.920 --> 0:09:58.600 I think you know, our role is really to push 0:09:58.640 --> 0:10:01.880 the envelope on puting and continue to raise the performance 0:10:01.880 --> 0:10:05.720 and the capabilities. UM. You know for all applications. Then 0:10:05.760 --> 0:10:08.480 there's of course Intel and in video with also a 0:10:08.480 --> 0:10:11.360 big pool of resources. Intel has a new CEO, pack 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:16.280 Gal Singer, who's coming out strong saying Intel is back. Um, 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:19.200 when the competition has a lot of money, and some 0:10:19.280 --> 0:10:24.200 would say momentum, how do you view that competition? Well, 0:10:24.240 --> 0:10:26.800 it's always been very competitive, Emily, I don't I don't 0:10:26.800 --> 0:10:30.800 remember time in this industry when it hasn't been competitive. UM. 0:10:30.880 --> 0:10:34.240 What I will say though, is UM, I'm really really 0:10:34.320 --> 0:10:37.160 pleased with our you know, what we've been able to accomplish. 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:40.000 I mean, it's it's fun to be able to say that, 0:10:40.080 --> 0:10:43.080 you know, we have uh, you know, really driven you know, 0:10:43.120 --> 0:10:45.800 the direction of computing in the industry. I mean, it's 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:47.160 fun to be able to say that. And if I 0:10:47.240 --> 0:10:49.079 look at you know, some of the things that we've 0:10:49.120 --> 0:10:51.280 done over the last five years, you know, we've really 0:10:51.640 --> 0:10:54.200 you know changed you know, sort of what people expect 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:57.960 um from high performance computing. So I would say it's 0:10:57.960 --> 0:10:59.800 a competitive world and and you know, we're going to 0:10:59.880 --> 0:11:03.600 be very competitive in the process. N VideA is in 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:08.280 the process of buying ARM. Do you see more consolidation 0:11:08.400 --> 0:11:12.199 in this industry or have we hit a tipping point? Well, 0:11:12.240 --> 0:11:16.719 I think for the highest um and sort of the 0:11:17.160 --> 0:11:20.880 bleeding edge of technology. UM. You know, scale is important. 0:11:21.240 --> 0:11:24.640 So when you're when you have more engineering capability, when 0:11:24.679 --> 0:11:27.200 you have a larger supply chain, UM, when you have 0:11:27.520 --> 0:11:31.760 a bigger impact on your customers, UM, you know sort 0:11:31.800 --> 0:11:35.000 of you know innovation, you know, scale is important. UM. 0:11:35.040 --> 0:11:37.640 You know, we're very excited right now that you know, 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:41.199 we are in the process of acquiring zy links Um. 0:11:41.240 --> 0:11:43.600 You know, Zy linx is you know, number one in 0:11:43.679 --> 0:11:48.200 the FPGA market and UM accelerated computing market. You know, 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:51.160 as we think about bringing that together with UM, you know, 0:11:51.200 --> 0:11:53.319 a m D S technology, we'll be able to offer 0:11:53.480 --> 0:11:58.840 more capability and UM you know, more UM overall system design, 0:11:58.920 --> 0:12:01.640 you know, for our customers. So I do think consolidation 0:12:01.760 --> 0:12:04.480 is one of the trends in the industry. Does that 0:12:04.520 --> 0:12:06.640 mean a m D is going to keep looking for deals. 0:12:06.640 --> 0:12:09.800 We're very focused on, you know, completing our Zylans acquisition. 0:12:09.880 --> 0:12:11.920 We're on track to do that by the end of 0:12:11.920 --> 0:12:14.160 this year. And you know, we'll always be looking for 0:12:14.440 --> 0:12:17.360 you know, how do we bring the best technologies together 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:24.359 under the A m D umbrella. This is my conversation 0:12:24.360 --> 0:12:27.320 with a m D CEO Lisa Sue. Coming up, we 0:12:27.400 --> 0:12:29.360 look back at the story of a little girl from 0:12:29.400 --> 0:12:31.959 Taiwan who moved to the US at a young age, 0:12:32.320 --> 0:12:35.320 took an interest in fixing her brother's remote controlled cars, 0:12:35.679 --> 0:12:38.319 and eventually got the top job at what is now 0:12:38.400 --> 0:12:41.280 one of the most respected chip companies in the world. 0:12:41.760 --> 0:12:45.240 She calls it her dream job. I'm Emily Chang. This 0:12:45.360 --> 0:12:57.680 is Bloomberg Studio. At one point, oh, you're an engineer 0:12:57.720 --> 0:13:00.640 by training. You're also an immigrant. You came to the 0:13:00.760 --> 0:13:03.040 US from Taiwan at an early age. Tell us a 0:13:03.080 --> 0:13:05.640 little bit more about your upbringing, Like what was it 0:13:05.720 --> 0:13:09.400 like growing up Lisa Sue. Yeah, sure, so, Um, I 0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:12.320 was born in Taiwan and um, you know, my my 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:15.440 parents immigrated to the US. My dad was was coming, 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:18.240 um to uh to graduate school here. Um. So I 0:13:18.240 --> 0:13:21.920 grew up in New York. Um, I would say, pretty normal, Emily, 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:27.520 pretty normal New York, New York upbringing. Um, my parents 0:13:27.520 --> 0:13:30.240 wanted me to focus on, you know, hard stuff, so 0:13:30.679 --> 0:13:33.880 math and science is where I spent a lot of time. 0:13:33.920 --> 0:13:36.760 But uh, yeah, I would say, you know, I sort 0:13:36.800 --> 0:13:41.680 of drifted into engineering as as something that was, um, 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:44.160 you know, sort of real and you could touch it 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:46.600 and feel it and do something with it, and um, 0:13:46.800 --> 0:13:48.880 and that's a that was sort of sort of how 0:13:48.920 --> 0:13:51.040 I grew up. Well, I want to talk about how 0:13:51.080 --> 0:13:53.920 the drifting happened, because I understand your your father was 0:13:53.920 --> 0:13:59.240 a statistician, your mom ran her own business. You played 0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:02.880 around with your other toys, I believe, um at a 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:06.479 young age. Like how did you get there? Well, Um, 0:14:06.679 --> 0:14:10.080 I was just really curious as a kid and so 0:14:10.280 --> 0:14:13.040 you know, you know, my my brother had a remote 0:14:13.040 --> 0:14:16.040 controlled car and it stopped working and I wanted to 0:14:16.040 --> 0:14:18.559 know why, right, so I, you know, I opened it 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:20.480 up and said, oh, this wire is loose. Maybe if 0:14:20.520 --> 0:14:23.440 I put it there it works again. And it was 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:26.440 just really amazing. Frankly, it was amazing to see that 0:14:26.920 --> 0:14:30.480 you could uh you know, make something sort of you know, work, 0:14:30.560 --> 0:14:32.720 and you can understand how you could put these things together. 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:35.200 And um, you know, I went to the Bronx High 0:14:35.240 --> 0:14:38.920 School of Science, which was very science focused, and so 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:41.360 I got you know some uh you know, I learned 0:14:41.360 --> 0:14:45.040 about computers, um in uh in high school and uh 0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:47.120 you know that's uh those are those are some of 0:14:47.120 --> 0:14:50.160 the steps. You worked your way through the engineering and 0:14:50.240 --> 0:14:54.360 technical ranks of various companies. Texas Instruments, IBM. You were 0:14:54.760 --> 0:14:58.400 Luke Garsoner, the CEOs technical assistant for a time Freescale 0:14:58.440 --> 0:15:01.360 semi Conductor. Did you ever think you were going to 0:15:01.440 --> 0:15:04.600 be a CEO, let alone a CEO of one of 0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:08.480 the biggest chip companies in the world. You know, I 0:15:08.680 --> 0:15:11.480 wouldn't say that I thought about that. I think, um, 0:15:11.520 --> 0:15:14.760 the way I thought about things was always, um, you know, 0:15:14.800 --> 0:15:17.560 I wanted to make a larger impact. And so, you know, 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:20.360 I spent a lot of years at IBM and UM. 0:15:20.400 --> 0:15:21.920 You know, it was the first time that I built 0:15:21.960 --> 0:15:24.880 products that you could actually you know, go by you 0:15:24.880 --> 0:15:27.840 know at you know, the best buy or and UM 0:15:27.840 --> 0:15:31.160 I found, Boy, that's that's pretty interesting. And with each 0:15:31.160 --> 0:15:33.440 opportunity I got to, you know, to run larger and 0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:37.120 larger teams. UM, I would say, uh, you know, being 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:40.120 a CEO of a of a semiconductor company and being 0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:42.040 CEO of a m D really is I've I've said 0:15:42.040 --> 0:15:44.240 it before, I'll say together it is like a dream job. 0:15:44.280 --> 0:15:47.320 You know, it's it's something that you don't quite say 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:49.000 that that's what you want to be when you grow up, 0:15:49.040 --> 0:15:50.440 but you know, when you grow up, it's kind of 0:15:50.480 --> 0:15:52.760 a nice thing to to be. So it was so 0:15:52.880 --> 0:15:55.480 interesting going back and looking at the history of a 0:15:55.640 --> 0:15:59.560 m D because you started at the company when analysts 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:01.720 were worried am D was going to run out of 0:16:01.760 --> 0:16:05.080 money after several straight years of losing money. I believe 0:16:05.160 --> 0:16:07.760 shares at the end of we're trading at two dollars 0:16:07.800 --> 0:16:11.160 and seven cents. Now they're trading at thirty times. That 0:16:12.440 --> 0:16:15.040 what drove you to take on that challenge in that 0:16:15.160 --> 0:16:18.440 moment back in two thousand fourteen, I start from the 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:21.800 notion that what we do is just like really hard. 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:24.520 There are very few companies in the world that can 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:27.200 do it, and the opportunity to lead a m D 0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:29.680 and at the time, You're right, you know, there were 0:16:29.720 --> 0:16:31.520 some people who are like, hey, you know, are they 0:16:31.520 --> 0:16:33.480 going to be able to get this together? And and 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:35.960 so on and so forth. But I knew in my heart. 0:16:36.000 --> 0:16:39.200 I mean, I've seen it over and over and over. Um, 0:16:39.240 --> 0:16:41.280 if you have the right strategy, and you have the 0:16:41.360 --> 0:16:44.040 right people, and you have the right focus and execution, 0:16:44.480 --> 0:16:46.960 you will be able to do something amazing. So what 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:50.320 do you think was responsible strategically for a m d 0:16:50.520 --> 0:16:53.320 S comeback. We made a couple of very good decisions. 0:16:53.360 --> 0:16:56.320 We said, first of all, our strategy was to focus 0:16:56.480 --> 0:16:59.880 on what we're very good at, and that's high performance computing. 0:17:00.040 --> 0:17:01.720 And that means that there are some things that we 0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:03.800 were not so good at, and we said that's okay, 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:06.680 We're not going to be the best at everything. Um. 0:17:06.720 --> 0:17:09.399 And then we really did focus on the foundation. Emily, 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:12.280 I mean, I know this sounds, you know, simple, but um, 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:15.560 it does take five years, you know, to to really 0:17:15.800 --> 0:17:19.920 build the foundation step by step of what um uh 0:17:19.960 --> 0:17:22.000 you know how you build products and making sure that 0:17:22.040 --> 0:17:24.680 we're um, you know, we're really pushing the leading edge. 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:26.560 And then on top of that, UM, you know, we 0:17:26.640 --> 0:17:29.480 built great relationships with our customers. And you know we 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:31.280 started with the notion of you know, what problem are 0:17:31.280 --> 0:17:33.960 you trying to solve and let's work on that together. UM. 0:17:34.000 --> 0:17:36.400 So you know, I think you know we put um 0:17:36.440 --> 0:17:39.520 you know really um, you know, great team, UM, you know, 0:17:39.640 --> 0:17:43.520 right strategy, strong execution, and you know my mantra is 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:49.159 we do what we say we're gonna do. You're listening 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:51.879 to my conversation with Lisa Sue, a m d CEO 0:17:52.560 --> 0:17:55.199 up next at a moment of reckoning for women and 0:17:55.280 --> 0:17:58.959 Asian Americans in business. How did she achieve what seems 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:02.520 to be impossible? Where will she take the thriving chip 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:05.800 company next? And what is the future of chip technology? 0:18:05.920 --> 0:18:10.040 Can they actually keep getting smaller forever? I'm Emily Chang. 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:13.239 This is Bloomberg Studio one point. Oh, stay with us. 0:18:22.160 --> 0:18:26.080 Fast forward now to today. Now that Wall Street is happy, 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:30.080 does that mean you can relax a little or does 0:18:30.119 --> 0:18:33.520 that create even more pressure to be excellent to keep 0:18:33.600 --> 0:18:37.280 upping your own game. Oh it, UM, without a doubt. UM, 0:18:37.400 --> 0:18:41.600 it does not get easier. I say that it doesn't 0:18:41.600 --> 0:18:44.760 get easier because you know, there it we're in a 0:18:45.000 --> 0:18:48.360 very competitive um, you know market. UM. I think we 0:18:48.440 --> 0:18:52.080 have big ambitions about what we want to be able 0:18:52.080 --> 0:18:54.600 to do. UM. I think it's always about you know, 0:18:54.640 --> 0:18:57.560 sort of what's next on the horizon. Um. What does 0:18:57.600 --> 0:19:02.000 get a little bit easier is um, just the track record? Right? 0:19:02.040 --> 0:19:04.200 So you know, I think you know, when when I 0:19:04.240 --> 0:19:06.760 would say back, you know, three or four years ago, 0:19:06.800 --> 0:19:08.760 when I said hey, something was going to happen, people 0:19:08.760 --> 0:19:11.320 were like really. And and now when we say hey, 0:19:11.359 --> 0:19:15.160 something's gonna happen, I think people people sort of understand. Now. 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:18.199 A m D also has an award, I believe, for 0:19:18.320 --> 0:19:22.600 a five percent award to recognize excellence when an employee 0:19:22.600 --> 0:19:26.719 makes a product or delivers five better. How do you 0:19:26.720 --> 0:19:31.520 balance the incremental with the five year plan? Well, Uh, 0:19:31.560 --> 0:19:34.439 it's it's it's actually called the next five percent UM. 0:19:34.560 --> 0:19:38.000 And Uh. The way you know I think about it is, look, 0:19:38.040 --> 0:19:41.000 we are very ambitious and what we want to do 0:19:41.200 --> 0:19:43.960 over the next five years. UM. But then I think 0:19:43.960 --> 0:19:47.399 we also UM, I encourage people to learn from every 0:19:47.400 --> 0:19:52.359 interaction and um, you know, every project and and and 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:54.719 that's what the next five percent is all about. It's like, 0:19:55.080 --> 0:19:56.840 what have we learned? What can we do better the 0:19:56.880 --> 0:20:00.119 next time? How do we up our game? Because as 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:02.800 I said, the world's very competitive place, and we want 0:20:02.800 --> 0:20:05.840 to make sure we're always upping our game. There's no question, 0:20:06.400 --> 0:20:08.399 you know, we're at a moment of reckoning for women, 0:20:08.640 --> 0:20:12.320 for Asian Americans in general, but also in leadership. And 0:20:12.400 --> 0:20:16.840 you are so unique in this see of of of 0:20:16.840 --> 0:20:20.320 white men in this industry. What is your advice to 0:20:20.480 --> 0:20:23.280 people out there who look at you and think like, 0:20:23.400 --> 0:20:26.480 how did she achieve what seems to be impossible? I 0:20:26.480 --> 0:20:29.880 would say that it is a time where we want 0:20:29.920 --> 0:20:33.240 to recognize UM, great people and give them, you know, 0:20:33.560 --> 0:20:37.040 UM good opportunities. What was really important for me in 0:20:37.080 --> 0:20:41.400 my career is that, UM, that I was given opportunities, 0:20:41.760 --> 0:20:45.280 and frankly, I learned through each one of those opportunities. 0:20:45.280 --> 0:20:48.439 And so what I would say for for women is, UM, 0:20:48.480 --> 0:20:50.760 who are aspiring to do big things, you know, be 0:20:50.840 --> 0:20:53.520 ambitious in what you think about, be ambitious and what 0:20:53.560 --> 0:20:56.960 you think about UM. You know, UM, I have a 0:20:57.040 --> 0:20:59.960 saying that that a mentor once told me about running 0:21:00.040 --> 0:21:03.040 towards problems. You know, take on that big, hard task, 0:21:03.760 --> 0:21:05.239 even if you don't know how to do it, you're 0:21:05.240 --> 0:21:09.320 gonna learn a tremendous amount in the process. And um, 0:21:09.359 --> 0:21:11.600 and frankly you're gonna surprise yourself about how much you 0:21:11.640 --> 0:21:14.080 can do. And you know, what we have to do, 0:21:14.200 --> 0:21:16.679 as you know, the rest of the ecosystem is provide 0:21:16.680 --> 0:21:20.080 those opportunities and provide people an opportunity to learn and 0:21:20.119 --> 0:21:23.600 maybe make a few mistakes along the way. But you know, really, um, 0:21:24.000 --> 0:21:27.480 develop as they as they go through you know, their careers. 0:21:28.160 --> 0:21:31.600 Do you think mentorship is really important in the own 0:21:31.640 --> 0:21:34.080 sort of next your own next chapter of your career. 0:21:34.760 --> 0:21:37.400 I really do, Emily, I mean, you know, again, I'm 0:21:37.400 --> 0:21:39.800 a product of people who helped me along the way. 0:21:40.000 --> 0:21:42.879 And UM, I really really recognize that. I mean, I 0:21:43.000 --> 0:21:47.160 was given opportunities that other people didn't have. UM, and UM, 0:21:47.200 --> 0:21:50.480 I feel like I can do the same. And in particular, UH, 0:21:50.520 --> 0:21:53.320 for women and engineering, that's a particular passion of mine 0:21:53.400 --> 0:21:57.720 because UM, frankly they're not enough and UM and women 0:21:57.720 --> 0:22:00.639 are sometimes a little bit shy in their you know, 0:22:00.720 --> 0:22:02.920 in their approach to things. And so you know, if 0:22:02.960 --> 0:22:05.800 if I can provide that, um, a little bit of 0:22:05.800 --> 0:22:08.199