Written by: Techub News Compilation

Introduction

Recently, AMD Chairman and CEO Lisa Su delivered a speech at a university in Taiwan and engaged in a Q&A session with students. This speech took place during Computex, the Taipei International Computer Show, where Su shared her professional journey from earning a PhD in Electrical Engineering to leading a global semiconductor company. She provided in-depth analysis of the industry trends under the wave of AI computing, AMD's strategic focus, and sincere advice for the next generation of tech talent. As one of the most influential leaders in the semiconductor industry, Su played a key role in AMD's turnaround and return to the core of high-performance computing competition; her insights are valuable for understanding the current AI hardware competition landscape and future technological directions.

Summary

• The AI market is vast, expected to reach $500 billion in size over the next three to four years, requiring diverse computing solutions (CPU, GPU, ASIC, FPGA).
• AMD's core strategy focuses on high-performance computing, deepening partnerships (such as with TSMC), and betting on advanced packaging technologies like Chiplet.
• Successful products, strong customer relationships, and agile execution are the three main priorities leading AMD's transformation.
• Advice to the younger generation: boldly tackle the hardest problems, learn quickly from setbacks, and maintain a mindset of continuous learning and agility.

The Computing Landscape and AMD's Strategy in the AI Wave

Lisa Su clearly stated that high-performance computing is at the center of today's digital life. AMD's technology reaches billions of people daily, whether in cloud data centers, network edges, PCs, automotive, or industrial fields. For a technology company, having a long-term strategy and roadmap is crucial. AMD is focused on three things: first, high-performance computing itself; second, building excellent partnerships, with TSMC at the core; and third, responding to changes in the semiconductor industry, especially as Moore's Law slows, where AMD has made significant bets in Chiplet technology, viewing it as a key for the future. She proudly mentioned that among the top ten supercomputers in the world, five are based on AMD technology, which validates its strength in the field of high-performance computing.

On the current hottest topic of AI, Su believes that new technologies and innovations in the AI field emerge weekly, even daily. She cited DeepSeek, which drew attention earlier this year, pointing out its integration of innovation through mixed expert models and finding a pathway to make AI more accessible and cheaper, thus accelerating the spread of AI applications. She emphasized that this is not a market statement, but a technological observation.

Su predicts a vast AI market, expected to reach $500 billion in size in the next three to four years. Within this enormous market, computing demands are diverse, and there is no "one-size-fits-all" solution. On one hand, a few giants capable of investing hundreds of billions of dollars will chase cutting-edge large models; on the other hand, numerous medium and small models as well as different algorithm paths will emerge. Thus, the market will continue to witness significant investments, including both substantial investments and more inclusive investments.

Based on this, Su elaborated on AMD's AI strategy: first, providing very complete solutions covering hardware, software, and systems; second, building an open ecosystem. She believes that promoting collaboration and keeping the ecosystem open is crucial for people to learn from each other. DeepSeek, as an open-source model, is why many can innovate upon it. She concluded that AI will permeate every aspect of AMD's business, from the largest data centers to PC levels, with a broad market that can accommodate many participants.

Semiconductor Trends, Ecosystems, and Personal Leadership

Su highly praised Taiwan's unique semiconductor ecosystem, from the strong manufacturing capabilities established by TSMC to the ODM/OEM manufacturing ecosystem and design ecosystem. She stated that from AMD's perspective, investments in software and systems will increase, and AMD's R&D team in Taiwan is a crucial part of its global R&D. At the same time, she pointed out that today's world ecosystems are interconnected and that from the U.S. viewpoint, there is indeed a reliance on many Taiwanese manufacturing ecosystems, so building resilience in that ecosystem is important.

Reflecting on her personal experiences, Su shared her parents' emphasis on education after immigrating to the United States. Initially, she wanted to work after obtaining her bachelor's degree from MIT, but at her parents' strong suggestion, she continued to pursue a PhD. She admitted she was quite impatient at the time, but it proved that her parents were right. University and postgraduate education provided opportunities to learn various things and build confidence to solve future problems. This experience laid the foundation for her growth from a semiconductor engineer to a business leader.

When asked about the toughest moment in her career, Su recalled the time around 2014 when she first took over as CEO of AMD. At that time, the company's product roadmap was lacking competitiveness, and fundamentally, a tech company is defined by its products. Therefore, she established three priorities: to create great products, build deep customer relationships, and maintain high agility and act quickly. The core goal was to replan the product roadmap to buy herself time. Today, AMD's CPU roadmap is based on the Zen architecture and has evolved to the fifth generation, moving from "not the best" to what she believes is "the world's best CPU technology." She emphasized that during tough times, it is crucial to clarify the goals you want to achieve; for tech companies, creating great products is always the first cornerstone.

Discussing semiconductor trends, Su believes a very full-stack design environment is essential, requiring hardware, software, and systems to be collaboratively optimized. One of the most exciting aspects of AI is that we are still in a very early stage, with significant innovations expected in the next decade. At the application level, AI will evolve from enhancing productivity for businesses and individuals to bringing even greater transformations in the years to come. She personally is particularly optimistic about AI applications in healthcare and life sciences, such as helping to cure diseases, discovering new therapies, and diagnosing health issues earlier.

Sincere Advice for the Younger Generation

Addressing the students present, Su offered heartfelt career and life advice. She encouraged young people to "embrace big dreams" and to dare to express them, telling your colleagues, managers, or future mentors; people will help you realize these opportunities. She observed that sometimes those from Taiwanese or Asian backgrounds might be more shy, but being bold in communication is crucial.

She shared the best advice she received from her mentor: "Choose the hardest problems" and "run towards the issues." Because there are so many interesting things in the world, choose a project, problem, or company where you can have a significant impact, and you will learn more and contribute more. She is confident that she learned the most from her biggest mistakes. Errors are not bad but are good; you can learn from them and do better in the future.

Regarding "soft skills," Su emphasized two points: first, the world changes rapidly, so maintaining an agile mindset is very important. The path you think is correct today might learn new things every day. She adheres to an important philosophy: you need to keep learning constantly, learn something new every day and decide how to adjust your path accordingly. Second, it is essential to know how to cope with setbacks. She reiterated that the most is learned from setbacks and failures. Her advice is that you can feel sad for a short while because everyone has emotions, but the time should be brief; afterward, focus on learning from the experience and concentrate on the next thing.

Su humorously mentioned that she was merely a "pretty good" student (like A-) back then, not a straight-A student. She believes everyone is different, and the most important thing is to apply what you've learned to the real world. For example, she found that written problems in device physics were very difficult but was very good at doing projects in the lab. Everyone has their strengths.

Finally, she refuted the viewpoint that success or failure is determined by headcount. When she just took over AMD, the company had only 8,000 employees, while competitors might have ten times that size. Many assumed she could not win. But she firmly believes that the key is not the number of people, but whether you have the right people, the right projects, the right focus, and the right vision. She stated that being in the tech field is a great privilege because the work done impacts billions of people every day, improving their lives, corporate operations, future healthcare, and sustainability. For AMD, the choice to focus on high-performance computing and believing it can have a wonderful impact on people's lives is essential.

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