Intel Channel regular Jason Kimrey leaves troubled chipmaker

Amid major spending cuts at Intel, longtime channel advocate Jason Kimrey is leaving the chipmaker along with several other partner leaders.

Jason Kimrey, a longtime channel pillar at Intel, a staunch channel advocate and admired by partners as one of the most influential channel executives in the industry, is leaving the embattled semiconductor giant, CRN has learned.

The Santa Clara, California-based company informed Sales and Marketing Group (SMG) employees on Friday of Kimrey’s departure, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter who requested anonymity to discuss the personnel changes.

(Related: Intel plans 35 percent cost cut for sales and marketing group)

Intel partners told CRN they were shocked to learn of the departure of Kimrey, vice president of commercial and partner sales for North America and a 23-year Intel veteran whom they considered the “face of the channel” for the chipmaker. Kimrey has been considered one of CRN’s most influential channel chiefs for the past six years because of his fierce advocacy for the channel.

“Jason was undoubtedly the face of the Intel channel and maintained honest relationships with everyone he met in the channel over the years,” said Marty Bauerlein, director of consumer and trade for distribution powerhouse D&H Distributing.

“He probably had one of the best reputations among vendors for integrity, investment strategy and commitment nationwide. I would rate him in the top 5 percent of channel executives for those things,” he added.

In a statement to CRN, an Intel spokesperson reiterated the company’s commitment to growing the channel.

“We are deeply committed to our partners’ success and are increasing our focus on our channel partner ecosystem as Intel transforms into a more efficient and agile company,” the spokesperson said.

Kimrey’s departure coincides with the departures of several other senior channel leaders from Intel, as SMG — the chipmaker’s main channel partner — plans to cut costs by more than 35 percent through job cuts and program changes, CRN reported last month.

The shakeup at SMG comes as Intel seeks to cut more than 15,000 jobs, or 15 percent of its total workforce, and more than $10 billion in costs to weather an unexpected and significant decline in revenue and profitability. Intel is cutting its workforce through a combination of voluntary buyouts, early retirement packages and layoffs.

Other channel leaders leaving Intel include David Allen, a 31-year veteran who most recently served as U.S. sales and marketing director, and Jennifer Bossin, a nine-year veteran who was director of sales for global systems integrator partnerships, according to sources familiar with the companies’ plans.

Kathleen Robinson, who served as managing director for federal systems integrators and defense industrial base partners, recently updated her LinkedIn profile to say she left Intel last month to become vice president of corporate sales at Seekr Technologies, an enterprise AI software company that works closely with Intel on the design of Gaudi accelerator chips.

Allen is leaving because he accepted a retirement package, according to two sources familiar with his departure. The reasons for Bossin and Robinson’s departures could not be determined. Allen, Bossin and Robinson did not respond to requests for comment.

The chief executive of a national systems integrator called the departure of Intel channel veterans such as Kimrey, Bossin and Allen a “huge blow” to the channel.

“It’s really because we’re losing our leadership infrastructure,” said the executive, who asked not to be identified so he could speak candidly.

Kimrey supported partners

In February, Intel named Kimrey head of North American commercial and partner sales, in conjunction with the formation of the group.

The group was created by combining the U.S. channel and partner team with teams managing relationships with large U.S. corporate customers, U.S. communications service providers, and customers and partners in Canada.

At the time, Kimrey told CRN that Intel decided to combine the teams to ensure the previously separate groups “will operate as one Intel” and “collectively bring the best of Intel’s offerings to the entire commercial market.”

“This is another example of how we are trying to reduce the number of layers and introduce a more efficient structure to deliver the greatest value to our customers through our partners,” he said.

According to an executive at a second solutions provider who also asked to remain anonymous, Kimrey has done a great job of connecting partners with customers in the field.

“He has very good contacts on the sales side. For us as partners, you need someone who has a little bit of push and pull on the sales side,” he said.

Prior to leading the North American Commercial and Partner Sales organization, Kimrey served as Intel Channel Head for the Americas for nearly seven years, a role in which he was responsible for a variety of partners including national solution providers, system integrators, distributors, and software vendors.

Over the past few years, Kimreya’s partner organization launched and then refined the Intel Partner Alliance program, which consolidated previously separate partner programs into one designed to simplify access to partner resources and facilitate collaboration between different types of partners.

Bauerlein, CEO of D&H Distributing, said Kimrey always took the time to make sure he knew the latest information about each partner he worked with.

“He always made sure that when we worked with D&H, we were up to date on all the programs we had going, like our Success Path program, and he advocated for investment in our programs. He also worked really well with his team to make sure they were delivering use cases that were relevant to the solution providers,” he said.

Partners express concerns about travel and financing

The CEO of a major distributor called Kimrey’s departure surprising and said he wanted to know how Intel would handle the transition of responsibilities for employees leaving the company, whether they were voluntary or were laid off.

“If you look at people who have bigger roles and bigger responsibilities, the transition is pretty significant,” said a distribution executive who asked not to be identified to discuss Intel employees leaving the company.

In addition to concerns about losing key channel advocates like Kimrey, there’s still concern among partners about their funding being cut by Intel’s plan to make big cuts to SMG. According to a presentation slide seen by CRN last month, the group is set to cut $100 million this year and $300 million in the first half of next year as it simplifies programs and adjusts roles and responsibilities around partner funding.

The CEO of a national systems integrator said Intel recently rejected funding requests for sales support activities such as content development and training.

“I’m concerned that this will limit the resources that we have. So we have AMD, we have Nvidia that is providing more resources, and we have Intel that is looking to provide less resources,” the source said.

The chief executive of a domestic systems integrator is concerned that Intel’s dwindling resources could hurt its efforts to challenge Nvidia with its Gaudi 3 accelerator chip, a key part of the semiconductor’s strategy for artificial intelligence in data centers.

“They have a great product with Gaudi 3, but I think their ability to deliver it to partners and customers is at risk,” the systems integrator said.

While executives at the domestic systems integrator have noted that other major suppliers have cut funding for the channel, it will still be a new challenge for Intel.

“Intel has developed a model for using this to gain awareness among sales and engineering, and now it will have to find another way,” the source said.