A former high-profile Intel executive has joined Google’s growing cloud computing business.
Diane Bryant, who was previously Intel’s head of its data center business, will become the chief operating officer of Google’s cloud unit, the search giant said Thursday.
“We are growing at an extraordinary rate as we enable businesses to become smarter with data, increase their agility, collaborate and secure their information,” Diane Greene, Google’s current head of its cloud business, said in a blog post. “Diane’s strategic acumen, technical knowledge and client focus will prove invaluable as we accelerate the scale and reach of Google Cloud.”
Bryant, who was a member of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women list, had a long and established career at Intel. She was its highest ranking female executive following the departure of former Intel president Renée James, announced in 2015.
In May, Intel said that Bryant was taking a leave of absence from the company, but did not say why. A short bio for Bryant on Intel’s website said, as of Thursday morning, that “Bryant is currently on leave, and her new role will be announced upon her return later in 2017.”
Clearly those plans have changed with Bryant slated to join Google (GOOGL). Intel also confirmed Bryant’s departure in a regulatory filing on Thursday. Bryant told Intel she would not return on Nov. 29 and would retire on Dec. 1.
She will receive a “separation payment” of $4.5 million and “agree to certain restrictions on the use of confidential information and on solicitation of Intel employees,” the filing said.
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Part of Bryant’s role at Intel (INTC) also included helping the semiconductor’s transition to becoming a major supplier of chips to corporate clients as opposed to its core business of supplying chips for personal computers. In 2014, for example, she joined Amazon (AMZN) on stage during the company’s annual AWS re:Invent conference to discuss a custom chip Intel helped create to power Amazon’s cloud computing business.
Google, also an Intel customer, has also been designing its own custom chips to help power its machine learning skills, such as the ability to quickly translate languages.
An Intel spokesperson told Fortune in an email. “We are extremely grateful for Diane’s contributions to Intel over the last 32 years, and wish her well with her new opportunity.”
