AMD just launched Embedded+, an aggressive program to embed AMD technology into the coming wave of ever more intelligent products, appliances, vehicles and infrastructure. AMD is uniquely suited for this market because, unlike its peers which often develop in a vacuum, in terms of individual customer needs, AMD has a history of embedding itself into a customer’s planning process and then, when needed, creating custom products to better meet customer needs.
Let’s talk about that this week.
The Need for Embedded Intelligence
With the advent of AI, there is an increasing need for everything an AI connects to be intelligent so that the AI and the networks feeding it aren’t overwhelmed with data but get actionable information, instead. This unloading of processing to the edge is called “Edge Computing,” and it is one of the most comprehensive trends in tech.
And given these Edge Computing systems need to be able to provide accurate information timely to the central AI in order for decisions to be equally timely and accurate, it helps if they are relatively similar to each other. That means that component vendors at scale like AMD have an advantage because they are capable of serving large numbers of customers and helping to assure that the systems that result don’t increase the complexity of the result beyond what is absolutely necessary. Here, complexity isn’t your friend because it will introduce integration problems, maintenance problems, data integrity problems, and result in an AI-based solution that will fail to meet objectives.
So, there is a significant need not only for embedded intelligence but for that intelligence to be as simple as possible so that it’s as trustworthy and dependable as possible.
Why AMD?
AMD has the scale of a multi-national but is uncomplex in nature, which means it is better able to focus on initiatives like Embedded+. AMD has been the fallback vendor for PCs for years and has taken leadership positions in servers and held leadership positions in gaming systems due to its focus, predictable reliable execution, and deep collaboration with its customers.
AMD has showcased a willingness to conform to a wide variety of customer requests and has delivered solutions ranging from GPUs, NPUs and CPUs tied to a variety of technologies it has developed or licensed. AMD has even delivered ARM-based solutions in the past and doesn’t appear to have a problem considering any technology that falls within its scope when a customer requests it.
And AMD does this with a relatively high level of consistency and a historical record that goes back to when its CEO Dr. Lisa Su joined the company. Excellence in executive leadership means AMD doesn’t take on projects or initiatives without a clear plan to exceed with them, and AMD’s decades-old focus on quality and meeting customer expectations has driven the firm to new heights and is the basis of its well-regarded position in the industry.
With Embedded tech, the tail (in this case, the supplier) can’t wag the dog because the company building the solution is closer to its customer and the related needs of that customer. AMD gets this. So rather than doing what most do, which is to develop products based on internal goals and then toss them into the market, AMD listens and builds what the partners want. In the end, that is just what the embedded market needs.
Wrapping Up:
Technology is spreading very rapidly with the sudden release of generative AI and the realization that tools like this, rather than being decades out, are available today and result in massive improvements in productivity and equally massive reductions in cost. They are core to the concept of Digital Transformation, but as IBM recently reported, Digital Transformation efforts are largely missing their productivity advantages and many are even reducing rather than improving productivity.
AMD is ranked as one of the best companies to work with and its customer focus makes it a potentially ideal choice for the embedded technologies of tomorrow. AMD’s Embedded+ initiative is worth checking out as you look into the edge products you plan to bring to market.
