There's some big news in the world of graphics cards today. Scott Herkelman, the head of AMD's Radeon GPU business, has announced he will leave the company by the end of 2023. Herkelman has served as the senior VP and general manager of the Graphics Business Unit at AMD since 2016.
Herkelman tweeted: "May you continue to punch above your weight class and one day… beat the final boss." The final boss is, of course, Nvidia. He oversaw the launch of three generations of Radeon products, beginning with RDNA1 (RX 5000-series) up to the latest RDNA3 based RX 7000-series.
Herkelman didn't reveal what his future plans entail, but a guy with his experience surely won't have any trouble landing a senior role in the tech industry, whether it's to do with graphics or anything else. He's sure to be on a pretty good wage right now though, so we wouldn't begrudge him some gardening leave before planning his next move.
AMD has yet to name a replacement, and with Herkelman staying on for a couple more months, AMD will have time to find a suitable replacement.
Maybe Intel needs a new VP? It's hard at work on its next generation Battlemage architecture, and a company like Intel has been known to open up the chequebook and go headhunting in the past. A return to Nvidia isn't impossible either. Prior to joining AMD in 2016, Herkelman served as the general manager of Nvidia's GeForce business unit.
I have met Scott in person and found him to be an engaging and funny man. He's a very good communicator and we at PC Gamer wish him the best in his future endeavors.
