Colette Kress, Nvidia's new interim CEO, is a CFO, not an engineer

Who is Colette Kress?

Before Nvidia, Kress spent more than two decades in finance roles at Microsoft, Cisco and Texas Instruments. Huang recruited her personally in 2013, when Nvidia was still mostly known for gaming graphics cards. He sketched his plan on a whiteboard: Nvidia could become a major supplier of computing infrastructure for AI.

Since then she has been the company's voice on Wall Street. On earnings calls she walks through financial results, customer demand and supply constraints. Analyst Patrick Moorhead calls her "the logical choice" because she "answers hard questions directly". He adds that she goes deep on the product road map too, from rack-scale systems to networking and software.

Why her, and not an engineer?

Nvidia has an unusual structure. Dozens of executives reported straight to Huang, there is no traditional chief operating officer, and even executive vice presidents don't necessarily control budgets, sources told WIRED. Few people understand the company's finances as well as Kress does.

Other names were floated, including Ian Buck, who created the CUDA software platform, and Jeff Fisher, a veteran of the GeForce unit.

A former Nvidia executive, speaking anonymously, described Kress as strong-willed and "whip-smart", someone who can step into the role immediately. But she lacks Huang's engineering and technical background, and she has avoided being at the center of public attention. After weeks of scrutiny around Huang, a quieter style may suit Nvidia for now.