HEAD OF THE DAY
🇺🇸 Lisa Su
🖥️ From Immigrant Kid to Chip Strategist
Lisa Su was born in Tainan, moved to the U.S. at age three, and grew up in Queens. After Bronx Science came three MIT degrees. Later at IBM she helped introduce copper interconnects in chips—a breakthrough that made processors noticeably faster. Since 2014, she’s led AMD through arguably the biggest turnaround in the company’s history.
Today she’s bridging both worlds again, striking a quantum-computing partnership with IBM.
Goal: “quantum-centric supercomputing” — tightly integrating quantum and high-performance computing, with fault-tolerant systems before 2030.
💬 Culture > Cash: She turns down nine-figure poaching packages and optimizes for impact over status: clear goals, open feedback, small teams with decision rights.
💡 Fun fact: She shares a family tree with her biggest rival in the market. Nvidia’s Jensen Huang is a distant cousin.
The China Survival Guide for Western Businesses
Entity setup, WeChat strategy, hiring your first local team. 12+ years on the ground in Shanghai.
