AMD Appoints Former Salesforce Executive as Chief Marketing Officer

AMD US0079031078

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. has strengthened its leadership team with the immediate appointment of Ariel Kelman as its new Chief Marketing Officer. This strategic hire arrives as the semiconductor firm intensifies its strategic focus on the artificial intelligence data center market, following a period of notable volatility for its shares.

Bringing more than twenty years of experience from top-tier technology corporations, Ariel Kelman assumes responsibility for AMD's global marketing operations. His mandate encompasses brand leadership, communications, and the company's overall go-to-market strategy. He will report directly to Ruth Cotter, Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer.

Kelman joins AMD from Salesforce, where he most recently served as President and Chief Marketing Officer, overseeing the global marketing organization. His prior career includes significant leadership roles at Amazon Web Services and Oracle, where he was instrumental in modernizing and scaling marketing teams during periods of substantial expansion.

Ruth Cotter welcomed Kelman as a "proven marketing leader with deep expertise in brand building and scaling marketing impact." She stated that his guidance is expected to help evolve AMD's marketing organization as the company continues to expand its portfolio across the data center, embedded systems, client, and gaming segments.

Key Financial and Operational Data

• The new CMO's appointment follows AMD's Q4 2025 earnings report, which showed record revenue of $10.3 billion, a year-over-year increase of 34%.
• Revenue from the data center segment, which includes AMD's AI GPU business, reached a record $5.4 billion, growing 39% compared to the same period last year.
• For the first quarter of 2026, AMD provided a revenue forecast of approximately $9.8 billion.

Strategic Timing Following Market Movements

The leadership announcement comes on the heels of AMD's quarterly results, released on February 3. Despite posting record revenues, the company's stock initially faced significant downward pressure. Market analysts attributed this reaction to a first-quarter revenue outlook that, while above consensus estimates, fell short of some investors' more aggressive expectations for AI-driven growth.

However, a subsequent recovery has been observed. By February 9, AMD shares closed at $216, marking a single-day gain of 3.63%. This followed an earlier surge of 8.28% on February 6. The company's current market capitalization stands at approximately $352 billion, with a forward price-to-earnings ratio near 31.

During the recent earnings discussion, CEO Dr. Lisa Su projected that the data center segment could achieve a compound annual growth rate of roughly 60% over the next three to five years.

Expressing confidence in his new role, Kelman described joining AMD as an "exciting moment in the company's history." He highlighted the opportunity to "capture the massive AI data center opportunity enabled by AMD's uniquely differentiated products."