Congratulations on your selection as a 2024 HPCwire Person to Watch. As a longtime electronics industry executive and the former president of the member-driven OpenPOWER organization, could you tell us a bit about your role as CEO of RISC-V and how it differs from being CEO of a more traditional “product” company?” What’s most challenging and what’s most rewarding?
As CEO of RISC-V International, I oversee the development and adoption of the RISC-V ISA. While there are parallels with being CEO of a traditional “product” company, the open nature of RISC-V presents unique challenges and opportunities. There is more of a focus on ecosystem collaboration, standardization, and community engagement.
One challenge I face in my role is increasing education and understanding of the RISC-V ISA to ensure its widespread adoption. For example, we’ve recently had conversations about the importance of RISC-V’s open nature. As a global standard, RISC-V has already grown tremendously and allowed people to innovate faster. Just as companies worldwide have embraced Ethernet, HTTPS, JPEG, and USB standards, our goal is to facilitate broader comprehension and acceptance of RISC-V as an open standard.
The most rewarding part of my job is getting to collaborate with people in the RISC-V ecosystem. The progress that technologists, academics, government entities, and companies are making excites me. Everyone has so much passion and I’m proud to work alongside them. I’m consistently inspired and driven by our community’s energy and commitment to advancing RISC-V. This community pushes me to create, innovate, and drive the computing industry forward.