Intel CEO Brian Krzanich enjoys talking about the future. And he predicts that in the future, big data is going to change every industry and everyday life for everyone.

“Oil changed the world in the 1900s. It drove cars, it drove the whole chemical industry,” Krzanich explains. “Data, I look at it as the new oil. It’s going to change most industries across the board.”

Since Krzanich became CEO of Intel (INTC) five years ago, he has steered the company in a new direction that he calls a “data centric strategy”. That means diversifying into artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, and the Internet of Things. These all require vast amounts of data and Intel provides the powerful components to make all that happen. The new strategy has also meant Intel is less focused on what made the Santa Clara, California company a household name: making microprocessors for personal computers.

The strategy seems to be paying off. Intel’s revenues rose nearly 6 percent to $62 billion dollars last year at a time when people were buying fewer PCs. Intel is now ranked at number 46 on the Fortune 500 list of America’s biggest industrial companies. But as Intel prepares to celebrate its 50^th anniversary, Krzanich is racing to make the company bigger and more successful.

“I think we’re moving a lot faster than we did five years ago,” he says. “I think if you go and talk to the employees, they’ve never seen the company on this level of pace of change and competitiveness. But I don’t think you can ever stand still and say that it’s fast enough in this technology world.”

Watch the video above for more of our interview with Krzanich.