James Cole’s Significant Career at Intel

James Cole ’98 joins his pledge brother, Brian Wilson, as one of Delta Delta’s newest Significant Sigs in 2026.

James Cole ’98

“To be named a Significant Sig is truly an honor that is hard to fully comprehend. Since my Sigma Chi journey began in 1994 when I walked into the doors at 202 Littleton Street,” Brother Cole reflected, “the fraternity has touched every area and domain of my life.  The brotherhood I continue to experience has impacted my life in ways I could never have anticipated as a pledge stepping into something far greater than I could have ever imagined. My pledge class has been with me since those first days, celebrating life’s many milestones and adding a lot of humor along the way. Other brothers from my era at Purdue continue to be like family — not just to me, but to my wife and my four kids. They push me in my faith and challenge me to continue to be the man Sigma Chi demands — a values-based leader, a dedicated husband, and an involved father.” To see James’ full personal statement go to Sigma Chi’s Impact.

An Outstanding Career at Intel

James joined Intel after graduating from Purdue University in 1997, as a Business Operations and Program Manager for four years, until his selection into the exclusive Intel Scholar Program, where he completed his MBA at Duke University. James returned to Intel as a Senior Product and Product Marketing Manager in the Digital Enterprise Group, a role he would hold for the next six years.

James’ next role was as Director of Product Management, Strategy and Technology in the Intel Client & Mobile Group, where he helped lead a team of 50 plus employees, managed a $400M budget, and helped lead the launch of the new Atom microprocessor which became the fastest Intel product to break $1B in revenue.

James expanded his work beyond Atom to also include the Core and Xeon product lines focusing on development and delivery of security solutions for these products. His role as Senior Director and GM, Security & CTO/CPO, Global Security Domain Lead of the Platform Security Division involved leading an enterprise-wide team to drive strategy and product standards.

In his roles James received recognition as an authority in network security, resulting in invitations to teach classes at the Air Force Academy, Purdue and UC Davis, while also co-leading a partnership with the United States Government on a lab at the Air Force Academy.  James was named Intel’s representative on the FIDO (Fast IDentity Online) Alliance, a role he would hold for 10 years, where he worked with leading technology companies to transition from passwords to passkey technology for a more secure technology ecosystem.

James noted, “My family is both my motivation and a great support system.” The Cole family (L-R) Grace, Luke, Jennifer, James, Jack and Will

In 2020, James became the Global Accounts team CTO within Intel’s Sales and Marketing Group. In this role, he provided technical leadership and vision to Cisco generating $2B in annual revenue for Intel.

James’ was promoted to Vice President and General Manager within the Data Center and Artificial Intelligence Group in 2023 where his team delivered Xeon products ($4B+ annual revenue) to the quickly evolving market around artificial intelligence. James guided thousands of Intel employees around the world while being accountable to a $5B+ budget. Under his leadership Intel was repositioned as the leader in market segment share for data centers. James’ work delivered a 15% margin improvement and 15% average cost savings for the product line. While leading this complex transformation, James also set a high bar for leadership resulting in him receiving leadership feedback scores of 4.9/5, which far exceeded the corporate average of 4.3/5.

After his successful tenure at Intel, James joined Cisco as Vice President of Product Management, Strategy and Business Development in their Data Center Group. In this role, James leads the data center networking division driving business partnerships that generate over $5B in annual revenue for the company.

Extra-Curricular Activities

• California State University, Sacramento, Department of Engineering and Computer Science Board of Directors/Industry Advisory Board (2023-Present)
  -Advisor to the Dean regarding operations of the school (growth, academic focus, faculty and student life)
• FIDO (Fast IDentity Online) Alliance – Board Member & Treasurer, Executive Council (2015-2025) FIDO Alliance is a global alliance of leading corporations (Apple, Google, Amazon, Intel etc.) working to move the eco-system to passkeys to ensure a more secure on-line experience.
• Sunrise Community Church Member, Elder Board (2006-2016), Chairman of the Elder Board (2012-2016)
  -Helped lead fiscal, operational and staff of over 1,000 parishioner church
• Marriage and Pre-Marriage Counselor – Volunteer marriage and pre-marriage counselor with wife Jennfier to over 100 couples