From Retirement to AI Revolution
When Nancy Avila stepped away from her role at McKesson in early 2024, she anticipated a quieter life balancing board responsibilities with personal time. Instead, she found herself drawn back into the technology sector by the rapid acceleration of artificial intelligence capabilities. “The excitement around AI was simply too compelling to ignore,” Avila recalled. This enthusiasm led her to join Analog Devices (ADI) as Chief Information Officer in August 2024, recognizing the semiconductor giant’s pivotal role in powering AI infrastructure from edge devices to cloud systems.
Building a Three-Pillar Technology Foundation
In her first year at the $9.5 billion semiconductor company, Avila implemented a strategic framework balancing operational excellence with innovation. Her approach rests on three core pillars: establishing foundational stability, optimizing processes through standardization, and driving innovation through emerging technologies. “What makes this framework powerful today is how AI transforms our approach to each pillar,” Avila emphasized. “We’re not just improving existing processes—we’re reimagining how work gets done.”
This strategic vision extends across customer experience transformation, manufacturing resilience, and administrative productivity. As Nancy Avila champions agentic AI implementation at Analog Devices, she’s demonstrating how semiconductor companies can leverage autonomous systems to maintain competitive advantage in rapidly evolving markets.
The Shift to Agentic AI Systems
While ADI has utilized machine learning for years, Avila’s current focus represents a significant evolution toward what she terms “agentic AI”—systems capable of reasoning, acting, and learning autonomously. “These aren’t just tools that assist with tasks,” she explained. “They’re active participants in workflow orchestration, driving productivity without constant human intervention.”
The practical applications are already delivering measurable benefits. Engineering teams use AI agents to instantly locate design specifications and component parameters, saving thousands of hours previously spent searching for information. In manufacturing facilities, conversational AI tools help process engineers detect anomalies in real-time, transforming what was once manual analysis into automated insight generation.
Data Readiness as the Critical Enabler
Avila stresses that AI effectiveness depends entirely on data foundation. “You cannot build meaningful AI capabilities without organized, accessible, high-quality data,” she stated unequivocally. This reality has shaped her integrated approach to data strategy and AI development, where progress directly correlates with data readiness.
“Where we have clean, integrated data, we can move with remarkable speed,” Avila noted. “Where data quality needs improvement, we prioritize foundational work before advancing AI initiatives.” This disciplined approach ensures that ADI’s AI systems build on reliable information, avoiding the common pitfall of sophisticated algorithms undermined by poor data. As other organizations navigate similar challenges, they’re watching industry developments in AI security and implementation with keen interest.
Transparent Decision-Making in Technology Investment
One of Avila’s core leadership principles is radical transparency, particularly regarding technology investments and their business impact. She has implemented systems that give business leaders clear visibility into how their decisions affect IT costs, especially concerning cloud computing resources.
“Cloud compute represents one of our most significant expenses,” Avila explained. “We’ve built tools that help engineers understand the cost implications of their design choices in real-time, rather than discovering substantial expenses weeks later.” This approach extends to outcome measurement, ensuring that technology investments deliver tangible business value rather than merely representing technical achievements.
Leading in an Engineering-First Culture
Transitioning from healthcare and building technology companies to a semiconductor leader required adapting her leadership approach. “At ADI, technology isn’t just an enabler—it’s our product,” Avila observed. “When nearly everyone in the organization is an engineer, IT’s role evolves from provider to orchestrator.”
Her philosophy emphasizes enablement over control. “We create safe spaces for innovation, allowing teams to experiment with new tools and solutions. When they’re ready to scale, we ensure the approach is sustainable and creates enterprise-wide value.” This collaborative mindset extends to her partnerships with business and engineering leaders, where deep curiosity about their challenges enables more effective problem-solving.
The Boardroom Perspective
Avila’s current role on Haleon’s board and previous directorship at Comerica Bank inform her executive leadership approach. “Board service begins with your specific expertise but quickly becomes collaborative,” she reflected. “The cross-industry insights you gain are invaluable when brought back to your primary organization.”
Her advice for aspiring technology executives seeking board positions emphasizes starting with nonprofit boards, securing executive support, and intentional networking. These experiences provide crucial perspective on broader business challenges and opportunities, including understanding how market trends in energy consumption are evolving alongside technological advancement.
Future Frontiers: Quantum Computing and Robotics
With her background in mathematics and statistics, Avila is particularly excited about emerging technologies beyond current AI capabilities. She identifies quantum computing as approaching practical implementation. “Seven years ago, quantum felt theoretical,” she noted. “Today, it’s becoming tangible, and we’re preparing for its impact on semiconductor design and cryptography.”
She’s equally intrigued by humanoid robotics not as science fiction but as practical tools for enhancing human capabilities. “Consider robots that assist individuals with mobility challenges,” she suggested. “This technology is advancing more rapidly than many anticipate, creating new opportunities for semiconductor companies.” These advancements are part of broader related innovations transforming multiple industries simultaneously.
Mobilizing AI From Edge to Infrastructure
As Avila reflects on her first year at Analog Devices, she expresses genuine excitement about the company’s strategic position in the AI ecosystem. “ADI plays a crucial role in mobilizing AI from edge devices to core infrastructure,” she stated. “Our technology sits at the intersection of physical and digital worlds, enabling breakthroughs across industrial automation, automotive systems, and communications infrastructure.”
This positioning becomes increasingly significant as companies worldwide accelerate their AI adoption, creating new demands for the semiconductor industry. The competitive landscape continues to evolve, with recent technology and regulatory developments affecting multiple sectors simultaneously. For Avila and her team, the coming years represent both tremendous opportunity and responsibility as they help shape how autonomous systems integrate into business operations and daily life.
Under Avila’s leadership, Analog Devices continues to advance both its semiconductor technology and its internal digital transformation, demonstrating how traditional industrial companies can harness agentic AI to redefine their operations and market positioning in an increasingly automated world.
This article aggregates information from publicly available sources. All trademarks and copyrights belong to their respective owners.
