Intel Fills Vacant Chief Legal Role as It Continues Its Transformation

Intel has named April Miller Boise as its new EVP and Chief Legal Officer, a role that has been vacant since longtime legal chief Steven Rodgers retired this past May.

Miller Boise won’t just oversee the company’s legal and government relations teams when she steps into Intel’s headquarters on July 6. She will also serve as a strategic adviser to the chipmaker’s leadership team and board of directors.

Miller Boise joins Intel with more than two decades of experience in various roles ranging from legal functions to mergers and acquisitions. She comes to the computer technology behemoth from Eaton, a power management company, where she was the Chief Legal Officer. Before that, she was the legal chief and Corporate Secretary for automotive part supplier Meritor.

In the company’s announcement, CEO Pat Gelsinger called Miller Boise “the rare combination of innovative business leader and talented attorney” and spotlighted her 25 years of experience across global markets and several industries.

Gelsinger added Miller Boise is a “critical” addition to the computer technology giant's leadership team as Intel’s “ambitious goals” are set against an increasingly complex legal and policy environment, and it pursues “the largest transformation in the company’s history.”

Since Gelsinger took over as CEO in February 2021, he has implemented an ambitious plan to revitalize the company with new multi-billion dollar chip fabrication plants, including a $20 billion plant in Ohio that will be the world’s largest chip-making facility. The company’s new fabrication facilities are a departure from its roots as they will be used to create other companies’ chips in addition to Intel-designed silicon.

The push into the chip foundry business led Intel to acquire contract chipmaker Tower Semiconductor earlier this year for $5.4 billion. As Intel enters its next phase, a legal mind like Miller Boise’s will be essential for avoiding unforeseen legal issues both in the U.S. and abroad, as the company also plots an expansion in Europe. She may also prove to be a boon for Intel as the company could leverage her M&A experience to acquire funding-starved startups in the chip space and the autonomous vehicle market as Intel builds out Mobileye, a self-driving technology startup it acquired in 2017 for $15 billion.

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