Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Guest Lecture of Greg Lavender, Executive Vice President & CTO at Intel Corporation as part of the MCI fresher’s welcome

At the start of every academic year, MCI | The Entrepreneurial School® welcomes its new students at a celebratory MCI Welcome Event. In addition to important information about their studies, this year’s event featured high-caliber lectures, discussions, and valuable exchanges with professors, fellow students, service departments, and the ÖH MCI, creating a perfect atmosphere for the beginning of the new semester at the fully packed Dogana Hall at Congress Innsbruck.

Following the welcome speeches by the Deputy Head of the MCI Academic Council, Claudia Mössenlechner, and ÖH MCI Chairperson Julian Pfurtscheller, MCI Rector Andreas Altmann extended a warm welcome to the 1,400 first-year students: “You are among the fortunate ones who succeeded in the admissions process, which saw 4,500 applicants from around the world. Take this opportunity, set ambitious goals, take responsibility, and shape the future. I wish you great success in realizing your dreams!”

The event continued with inspiring speeches and discussions featuring top international business figures:

Greg Lavender, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Intel, Santa Clara, CA, delivered a lecture titled “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants,” which explored the evolution of computing from the ideas of Pythagoras, through the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, to modern technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things. He encouraged the young audience not to be deterred by challenging circumstances: “Every new technology and change presents great opportunities for bold and ambitious young people. The future is yours!”

Greg Lavender is executive vice president, chief technology officer (CTO) and general manager of the Software and Advanced Technology Group (SATG) at Intel Corporation. As CTO, he is responsible for driving Intel’s future technical innovation through his leadership of Intel Labs, Intel Federal LLC and Intel Information Technology (IT). He is also responsible for defining and executing Intel’s software strategy across artificial intelligence, confidential computing and the growing need for open accelerated computing to support Intel’s range of business and hardware offerings.

Lavender joined Intel in June 2021 from VMware, where he served as senior vice president and CTO. He has 40 years of experience in software and hardware product engineering, cloud-scale systems architecture and engineering, and advanced research and development. Prior to his role at VMware, Lavender held executive and technology leadership positions at Citigroup, Cisco Systems and Sun Microsystems.
Lavender holds a Bachelor of Science in computer science from the University of Georgia, and a Master of Science and Ph.D. in computer science from Virginia Tech.

Benedikt Böhm, CEO of Dynafit, extreme mountaineer, and WWF Ambassador, captivated the students with his talk “Out of the Death Zone – Succeeding in Mountaineering and Business.” He drew striking parallels between his two passions, extreme sports—scaling 8,000-meter peaks and skiing down without supplemental oxygen—and running his business. He emphasized that the key to success lies in proper preparation, the art of minimalism, precisely coordinated steps, and quick adaptability—whether in the mountains or in business.

The event concluded with a lively get-together, offering students the chance to network, exchange ideas, and discuss exciting plans for their studies, careers, and entrepreneurial ventures.