- Proven CEO and C-suite leader with 30+ years of experience in semiconductors, data center, AI, networking and cloud infrastructure
- Increasingly responsible leadership roles over 20 years at Intel
- Expertise includes corporate realignment and transformation, and scaling multi-billion-dollar businesses
PARIS, Jan. 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sandra Rivera, former CEO of Altera, an Intel FPGA spinout, today assumed the role of Chair of the Board of Directors of VSORA, a French technology leader redefining AI inference for next-generation data centers, cloud infrastructure and edge.
Rivera brings a wealth of semiconductor industry executive leadership experience to VSORA and a proven track record of success in increasingly responsible leadership roles at Intel where she worked from 2000 until 2023. Her expertise includes spinouts and corporate realignments, corporate transformations and scaling multi-billion-dollar businesses with measurable revenue growth, margin expansion and shareholder value creation.
In making the announcement, Khaled Maalej, VSORA’s founder and CEO, noted that Rivera is renowned throughout the semiconductor industry as a results-oriented and versatile CEO and C-suite leader who combines technical knowledge with strategic vision. “Sandra’s background in semiconductors, data center, AI, networking and cloud infrastructure well aligns with ours. Her abilities to drive technical advancements in a competitive landscape and commitment to fostering innovation and building high-performance global organizations is welcome as we ramp production of our ultra-high-performance AI chip Jotunn8.”
“I am excited about VSORA’s unique capabilities and its track record of success and accomplishments, having been in the semiconductor industry for more than two decades,” Rivera remarks. “I know very well the challenges a team has in developing a new, more power-efficient AI chip architecture and differentiating itself, and the value of working together for as long as VSORA’s high-performing, talented team has.” Speed and agility are superpowers of a small company like VSORA over a large one, reflecting the speed of change in the tech industry, especially in AI, she added.
According to Rivera, her first priority is to work with Maalej and the board of directors on the foundational infrastructure, product roadmap and evolution of the product strategy to differentiate, scale and execute with innovation, rigor, discipline and excellence.
About Sandra Rivera
Rivera was most recently CEO of Altera, leading the successful spinout of Intel’s FPGA business in partnership with Silver Lake Partners, streamlining product roadmaps, empowering technical leadership and rebuilding customer and distributor trust.
As Intel’s Executive Vice President (EVP) and General Manager (GM) of the Data Center and AI Group, she was responsible for Xeon CPUs, GPUs, FPGAs and AI accelerators and Intel’s enterprise-wide AI strategy. She also was EVP and Chief People Officer and Senior Vice President and GM of the Network Platforms Group, growing Intel’s networking business and making it the market leader in network logic. Earlier, Rivera served in Market Development and Business Development roles.
In addition to VSORA’s board chair, Rivera is a member of the Board of Directors of Equinix Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), the leading data center infrastructure company, and an advisory board member of the UC Berkeley College of Engineering. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Penn State University and has earned certificates in executive leadership and sustainability from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
About VSORA
Founded in 2015, VSORA is a French deep-tech company building the next generation of AI inference silicon—a rapidly expanding segment as AI moves from training into massive real-world deployment. VSORA’s flagship data center chip, Jotunn8, will be available in early 2026, offering breakthrough performance and energy efficiency for large-scale inference, positioning VSORA at the convergence of data center modernization, AI efficiency, and sovereign compute infrastructure. VSORA operates globally, with offices in Japan, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan.
Connect with VSORA:
Website: www.vsora.com
Email: [email protected]
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vsora/
For more information, contact:
Nanette Collins
Public Relations for VSORA
[email protected]
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/bfdabb27-c1db-4548-bf07-cf6624631890