Paul Otellini, Intel's President and Chief Executive Officer was earlier Santa Clara company's President and Chief Operating Officer. Otellini is the fifth Chief Executive in Intel's 36-year history. But perhaps more importantly, the San Francisco native becomes Intel's first top dog who is not an engineer. Although he has been with the company for 31 years, his training is largely in sales and marketing. According to analysts, now that Intel has matured, it is turning to sales and marketing as a key factor in sustaining growth. That's why someone like Otellini makes sense for the job. Otellini is now at the helm of a company that recorded $34 billion in revenue last year. Largely because of its dominance in the PC microprocessor market, Intel remained profitable even when the dot-com bubble burst and many technology firms were flooded with red ink. However, Intel has reached a crossroads as it tries to look beyond the PC market for new revenue opportunities, such as products for the digital home and communications devices like cell phones. Intel has already spent billions of dollars developing Itanium, a microprocessor for high-end server computers. The chipmaker also poured billions more into acquisitions to enter the communications business. So far, neither business has been an overwhelming success. One hallmark of Intel has been smooth transition of power. No CEO has been fired or unceremoniously removed. Otellini became the heir apparent in 2002, when he was promoted from Executive Vice President in charge of the microprocessor division to President and Chief Operating Officer. Otellini did not waste any time to start making significant changes within Intel's executive ranks. In January, Intel announced a major reorganization of its senior management to reflect its new emphasis on markets rather than specific products. Otellini is the chief architect behind Intel's platforms approach to making and selling chips for different devices such as desktop PCs, notebook PCs and cell phones. It is a classic business approach from a sales and marketing point of view rather than from an engineering perspective. But with the maturing PC market, that movement is unavoidable. The growth for Intel, it is believed, will come in new initiatives in networking, in telephony and the company is clearly in the midst of a transition challenge. A challenge that can be easily met by a determined person like Otellini.