How AMD’s Lisa Su Drives Record Growth and Chip Innovation in 2022

Reading guide: AMD’s "Su Ma" story and technology strategy are worth repeated reading by CTOs and CIOs.

In the second quarter of 2022, driven by a surge in data‑center chip demand and strong consumer interest in Ryzen laptops, AMD achieved stable growth with sales exceeding $6 billion.

CEO Lisa Su told analysts that “AMD has never been so strong; our market is larger and more diverse than ever,” noting an eighth consecutive quarter of record revenue that beat Wall Street expectations for both revenue and non‑GAAP EPS.

In Q2 2022 AMD launched the 5 nm Zen 4 Ryzen 7000 desktop processor family, and announced the upcoming 5 nm Zen 4 Epyc server processors (code‑named Genoa) slated for later in the year, along with a high‑end RDNA 3 graphics chip, marking the market introduction of AMD’s latest CPU architecture.

AMD relies on Taiwan’s TSMC for silicon, currently facing some supply‑tight issues, but TSMC is expanding capacity, including plans for a new 5 nm fab in Arizona, USA.

By contrast, rival Intel reported a 22 % year‑over‑year revenue decline, a loss of about $454 million, and blamed market competition and ongoing supply‑chain challenges.

AMD claims double‑digit growth across all business units, with data‑center revenue up 83 % and $1.5 billion contributed by its Epyc CPUs, Xilinx FPGAs, and Instinct GPUs.

Su predicts that fourth‑quarter data‑center upgrade demand and the embedded market will continue to drive AMD’s upward trajectory.

Although AMD is smaller than Intel, each of its divisions posted double‑digit growth while Intel’s units saw declines.

About Lisa Su

Lisa Su graduated from the Bronx High School of Science and earned a Ph.D. from MIT. She previously worked at Texas Instruments and IBM before joining AMD in 2012 as senior vice president.

She helped AMD secure major gaming console contracts with Microsoft’s Xbox One and Sony’s PlayStation, distinguishing her from her predecessor who favored high‑profile product launches that often underperformed.

Su describes herself not as a laboratory genius but as a competent engineer who excels at understanding engineers’ capabilities and guiding high‑level decisions.

MIT’s nanoscience building, formerly “Building 12,” was renamed the “Lisa T. Su” building in June 2022, housing the MIT.nano Immersion Lab that focuses on visualizing, understanding, and interacting with large multidimensional data, as well as prototyping AR/VR devices.

MIT President L. Rafael Reif explained that the renaming reflects a commitment to expanding nano‑scale research and fostering a vibrant, collaborative MIT.nano community.

Su said, “MIT has played a very important role in my life. I am honored and delighted to influence the next generation of students and researchers, but I cannot replace hands‑on learning; I hope MIT.nano will continue to nurture the brightest engineers and innovators.”

In China’s tech circles, she is affectionately nicknamed “Su Ma,” and she remains one of the most influential women in the technology industry, continuing to write AMD’s story.