WIRED says Nvidia interim CEO Colette Kress shows a blind spot in tech power talk

In short: A WIRED story argues that Colette Kress, now Nvidia’s interim CEO, is one of the most powerful women in tech, and it highlights that former CEO Jensen Huang did not mention her when asked about powerful women leaders.

What's going on

WIRED recently revisited a question it has been reporting on for months, who counts as “powerful” in Silicon Valley, an industry that has long been led mostly by men. The publication says the answer is not a single person, but many women with different kinds of influence.

In its earlier reporting, WIRED asked Nvidia’s then-CEO Jensen Huang for examples of powerful women in tech. Huang named leaders such as Meta’s Dina Powell and Google’s Ruth Porat, and after follow-up he also pointed to SpaceX executive Gwynne Shotwell.

WIRED notes that Huang did not mention Colette Kress, who at the time was Nvidia’s CFO, meaning chief financial officer (the executive who oversees the company’s money, like a head accountant for a giant business). Kress regularly appeared with Huang on Nvidia earnings calls, where the company explains its results to investors.

Kress has since become Nvidia’s interim CEO. WIRED argues this puts her in a central role in today’s AI economy, because Nvidia makes the chips that many AI systems run on (think of them as the engines inside the computers that train and operate AI).

What to watch

The big question is how long Kress stays in the top job and what choices she makes while she is there. WIRED frames her rise as a reminder that power in tech is often overlooked when it does not match the usual, celebrity-style image of a leader.

Source: Wired