- Qualcomm currently sells AI accelerator processors but has the CPU market in its sights
- Sailesh Kottapalli’s expertise lies in x86 architecture, not Arm
- But that didn’t stop Qualcomm from hiring him to lead its data center team.
Qualcomm, known for its Snapdragon processors powering smartphones and business laptops around the world, has made a potentially key hire as it seeks to challenge AMD and Intel in the processor market.
The company’s latest coup involves hiring former Xeon processor chief architect and 28-year Intel veteran Sailesh Kottapalli.
Kottapalli joined Qualcomm as a senior vice president in early January 2025, bringing extensive expertise in designing high-performance x86 server chips.
The passage from Kottapalli to Arm
Kottapalli wrote on LinkedIn that “the opportunity to innovate and grow while helping to push new boundaries seemed extremely compelling to me – a once-in-a-lifetime career opportunity that I couldn’t pass up.”
What makes this move significant, given Qualcomm’s reliance on Arm-based designs, is Kottapalli’s expertise in x86 architecture. His leadership could help bridge the gap between Qualcomm’s existing technology and the demanding requirements of data center processors.
A new impetus for the data center
Qualcomm had withdrawn from developing server processors in 2018, but the company has now revealed plans to develop high-performance, energy-efficient server solutions suitable for data center applications.
That journey began with its Snapdragon 2024 when Arm alleged that the acquisition of Qualcomm violated the terms of its license. Although a federal jury sided with Qualcomm, Arm is seeking a new trial.
For now, however, Qualcomm has expanded its presence in the data center sector, with AI accelerator chips under the Qualcomm Cloud AI brand backed by industry leaders like AWS, HPE and Lenovo.
