As competition for AI talent intensifies, some tech leaders are rejecting the notion that sky-high salaries are the only way to attract the best minds. AMD CEO Lisa Su believes purpose and impact matter more than eye-popping paychecks.
The AI industry is on track to reach $4.8 trillion by 2033, prompting a scramble among tech giants to secure elite engineers and researchers. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly dangled $100 million compensation packages in an effort to lure employees from rivals. But leaders like Lisa Su of $284 billion AMD, and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, aren’t matching those figures arguing that loyalty and mission outweigh money.
“I think competition for talent is fierce. I am a believer, though, that money is important, but frankly, it’s not necessarily the most important thing when you’re attracting talent,” Su told Wired. She acknowledged the need to be “in the zip code” of competitive salaries but stressed that belief in a company’s mission should be the primary draw.
Su wants prospective hires to be inspired by AMD’s technological journey rather than financial perks alone. “From a recruitment standpoint, it’s always like, ‘Do you want to be part of our mission?’ Because the ride is really what we’re trying to attract people to,” she explained. “If you want to come do important technology, make an impact, you’re not just a cog in the wheel, but you’re actually someone who’s going to drive the future of our road map, then you want to be at AMD.”
While AMD salaries are competitive, Su noted that “people have done relatively well here, because the stock’s done okay”—she rejects the idea of offering massive, one-off deals to newcomers. “At the end of the day,” she said, “it’s not really about one person in our world… we have some incredible people.”
The 55-year-old CEO emphasizes fairness to existing employees as a key reason for avoiding $100 million offers. Paying newcomers dramatically more than long-standing team members, she believes, would undermine morale and equity.