During the first keynote of the 2024 National Leadership Conference, Dr Ann Kelleher, EVP and General Manager of Technology Development at Intel, shared her incredible career journey. From being one of five women studying engineering in a class of 55 to being a leader in an organisation of 19,000 people today. Now splitting her time between Phoenix and Portland, Ann’s key theme was the importance of continuous learning: “A day you don’t learn something new is a day wasted.”

Innovation is at the heart of Ann’s role. Intel had fallen behind in leadership processes, and her focus is on accelerating progress. “You won’t get ahead if you keep going at your same pace,” she explained. Innovation requires both speed and endurance, and Ann emphasises learning from failure—failing fast and using setbacks as learning opportunities. To lead in innovation, one must fail fast, learn from those mistakes, and constantly push for greater speed and quality. She believes that real leadership is about taking initiative and setting an example for others.

As a leader of an organisation of 19,000 people, Ann highlighted the importance of filtering issues that get escalated to management. Her bar for getting upset has risen over the years, advising leaders not to react to the first escalation but to distil whether it’s a real problem,

Ann also stressed the importance of collaboration over individual brilliance. “No person is an island,” she said, highlighting the value of collective effort. Her thoughts on resiliency were particularly memorable, asking, “Are you a tennis ball or an egg?” In the face of adversity, it’s about how we recover and move forward that defines leadership. Resiliency is the ability to recover, adapt, and keep going when faced with adversity. Leadership, she noted, isn’t about being the smartest in the room but working together and relying on collective strengths.

On a personal level, she emphasised the power of believing in yourself, knowing your strengths, and seeing opportunities rather than obstacles. Ann also spoke about reframing rejection, advising that a “no” should be seen as part of the conversation on the way to “yes.”

Mentorship and sponsorship were also key themes. Ann sees mentorship as focused on skills, while sponsorship is about being advocated for by senior leaders within an organisation. Sponsorship, she noted, is especially vital for those who may not be extroverts or fully understand the internal workings of a company.

On the topic of AI, Ann was clear: “Used well, AI brings great positives.” Drawing one of many hilarious analogies, she likened AI’s potential to the moment Ireland transitioned from using logbooks to calculators—marking a major leap forward in efficiency and capability. If there’s one key takeaway from the session, this must be it: the potential of technology lies largely in the way it’s applied.

The National Leadership Conference is an IMI Corporate Membership Event. Find out more about Corporate Membership here.