AMD CEO Lisa Su's speech at the MIT Class of 2026 graduation ceremony.

Author: Gandalf, Techub News

From "burning circuits" in MIT laboratories, to carrying the loss-ridden AMD, to standing at the center of the AI wave, Suzi Feng proves through one path: what truly makes the difference is not talent, but your willingness to actively run towards the hardest problems.

Summary

At the 2026 graduation ceremony of MIT, AMD CEO and MIT alumni Suzi Feng shared her growth experience with graduates, offering three essential life lessons: to use "engineer instinct" to break down the hardest problems, to bravely take responsibility amid technological change, and to actively "create your own luck." She began with her learning and laboratory experiences at MIT, talked about taking over AMD during its difficult times, and now facing the opportunities and challenges in the AI era, encouraging graduates to "actively run towards the hardest problems" and use what they have learned to change the world.

Key Points

Studying at MIT and participating in the UROP research program transformed Suzi Feng from a "student good at exams" into an "engineer who dares to do original research," truly understanding the spirit of "mens et manus (mind and hand)": think deeply, but also dare to take action, dare to fail, and dare to start over.
She integrated her advisor's advice to "always run towards the hardest problems" throughout her career choices: from being a young engineer in large companies, to taking over as CEO during AMD's toughest moments, amplifying her personal "engineer instinct" into the team's ability to collectively solve problems.
Regarding the wave of artificial intelligence, she sees its vast potential to accelerate discovery and innovation in healthcare, science, energy, climate, and emphasizes that "technology does not make value judgments for humanity," and the future will always be determined by the people who hold the technology and make choices.
In her view, "luck" can be created: dare to tackle the hardest problems, actively step into fields without standard answers, surround yourself with stronger people, and believe in your ability to change a part of the world.
Her message to the class of 2026 is: in the future, you will walk into "rooms where you completely don’t know what you are doing" time and again, but as long as you remember the engineer intuition and problem-solving skills honed at MIT, you have the capability to "find the answer yourself."

In 2026, Suzi Feng was invited back to her alma mater MIT to speak at this year's graduation ceremony. She shared her perspectives as a Taiwanese immigrant student in the 1980s, an engineer, and the CEO of a global tech company with the younger generation, emphasizing the responsibilities and opportunities that come with the changing times.

The First Lesson Learned at MIT: Development of an Engineer

Suzi Feng recalled her memories of arriving at MIT at the age of 17: thinking she was "good at math," she quickly realized in foundational courses like 6.001 and 6.002 that MIT brought together too many "people who are incredibly good at calculations." The all-nighters studying assignments and the repeated "burning circuits and starting over" in experiments marked the true beginning of her identifying as an engineer.

She particularly mentioned that her undergraduate UROP (Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program) completely changed her life trajectory. Wearing "bunny suits" in clean rooms, conducting experiments on 2-inch wafers, and adjusting parameters after each failure allowed her to genuinely participate in the "creation of new things," and thus she fell deeply in love with semiconductors.

“Mind and Hand”: The True Education at MIT

While pursuing her doctorate, she studied under Professor Dimitri Antoniadis, battling devices that did not function as expected in the lab every day, repeatedly returning to her advisor's office to discuss "what to do next." In this process, she grew from a "graduate student taking courses" to "someone genuinely engaged in original research."

She concluded that what MIT gave her was not just knowledge of semiconductor device physics, but the spirit of "mens et manus": to think deeply enough, but also to dare to take action, to experiment, and to continue moving forward after repeated failures. The truly important thing is to establish a belief—not "I will always know the answer right away," but "even if I don’t know the answer now, I have the ability to figure it out piece by piece."

Second Lesson: Always "Run Towards the Hardest Problems"

After leaving MIT to work at IBM, at the age of 25, she was faced with a colossal organization that had hundreds of thousands of employees, and she once wondered if she could truly make an impact. An advisor gave her a piece of lifelong advice: "Always run towards the hardest problems."

When she assumed the position of CEO at AMD 12 years ago, this advice once again became a guide for critical decisions: at that time, AMD was in a difficult situation, and many advisors even advised her not to take this "risky job." But in her eyes, this was an opportunity to tackle challenges at the forefront of technology—to bet on high-performance computing and lead the team in creating the world's strongest computing platform.

During the process of leading AMD through its transformation, she maximized the "engineer instinct" trained at MIT: breaking down seemingly unsolvable problems into smaller parts, systematically advancing step by step, and fostering a shared problem-solving culture within the team. She said that while individual engineer instincts are indeed important, when such instincts are shared within the team, it generates the true power to change the industry.

Third Lesson: Opportunities and Responsibilities in the AI Wave

Talking about the current era, she reviewed several technological waves in the past few decades: the internet changed communication methods, mobile computing changed lifestyles, and cloud computing changed work methods. In her view, artificial intelligence is different from all previous waves—it is not just a "tool to get things done faster," but a "multiplier" that could accelerate discovery and innovation across various fields.

What she cares most about is the change in the healthcare sector: after experiencing family illness, she deeply felt that even with the best doctors and hospitals, it is difficult to gather all the world's knowledge and experience at critical moments. In her view, AI has the opportunity to assist doctors and researchers in bringing the best professional knowledge to individual patients, increasing the chances of successful treatments, which is one of the most beautiful visions of AI.

She predicts that with the help of AI, breakthroughs in medicine, science, energy, climate, and other key fields may exceed the total of the past thirty years within the next decade. But she also emphasized that one critical fact will never change: what determines the future is never the technology itself, but the people who master the technology.

Technology Changes the World, but Values Determine the Direction

In Suzi Feng's view, no matter how powerful the AI is, it cannot decide which problems are worth solving for humanity, cannot make tough value judgments when the data is incomplete, and certainly cannot take responsibility for the consequences. These are all responsibilities that only humans can and must bear.

Therefore, when she told MIT graduates, "this is an extraordinary era," she referred not only to the excitement on a technological level but also to the significant tests on the value level. This world lacks people who can use tools; what is truly scarce are those who know "where to apply these tools"—those with a sense of purpose, judgment, and courage, willing to face the hardest but most worthwhile problems.

“Luck” Can Be Created by Oneself

At the end of her speech, Suzi Feng talked about a question that she is often asked: what does success really depend on? She acknowledged her fortune, having the support of her parents, an excellent educational environment, and outstanding colleagues. But she increasingly believes that the most talented people "actively create their own luck."

In her definition, "luck" is not passively "happening to be in the right place at the right time," but is accumulated by a series of active choices:

Actively choose to do the most difficult and challenging things.
Actively choose questions to which you do not know the answers.
Actively place yourself in environments and partnerships that will "raise the standard."
Actively believe that "I have the ability to change a part of the world."

She encouraged the graduates to be "extremely ambitious" when choosing problems, always running towards the hardest places, while believing in the engineer intuition trained at MIT, daring to explore new paths amid uncertainty—this is "creating your own luck."

To Family and the Class of 2026

Before concluding, she particularly acknowledged all family and friends present, thanking them for their support and companionship to the graduates over the years, emphasizing that "no graduate has reached today alone." This achievement equally belongs to every family member in the audience.

Addressing the class of 2026, she left them with a statement full of MIT spirit: in some future year, you will definitely step into another room where you have no idea what you are doing—don't panic, you have already gone through MIT once, you know how to "find the answer yourself." As an MIT alumnus, she extended her most sincere congratulations and hopes to all graduates as "from one MIT person to another."

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