Paul Otellini, CEO / Intel

The 55-year-old Otellini, who replaced Craig Barrett as CEO in May, has made it a priority to keep Intel on the schedule laid out in company road maps.

In the area where Intel needed to focus the most—high-end processors—the company managed to deliver its dual-core Xeon processors early, but still several months behind AMD. In October, Intel revealed that its next-generation Itanium chip, code-named Montecito, would be delayed by up to a quarter. It also has faced chipset shortages.

Though execution remains an issue, Otellini has made an impact on Intel&'s marketing tactics. Months before assuming the CEO post, Otellini reorganized the executive ranks to reflect an emphasis on markets rather than products. He is the chief architect behind Intel&'s platforms strategy, including its wildly successful Centrino wireless mobile platform. And most recently, Otellini has been talking about “performance per watt,” promising a new generation of low-energy, multicore chips by the second half of next year.

If he can deliver, that could take some of the wind out of AMD&'s sails. In the third quarter, Intel&'s revenue rose 18 percent to $9.96 billion, driven by strong notebook processor sales. Otellini faces some stiff expectations. Analysts were still disappointed earnings were up only 5 percent to $2 billion.

The San Francisco native developed a strong work ethic early. Otellini worked throughout high school in a men&'s clothing store and later in a slaughterhouse. He also stayed home to attend the Jesuit University of San Francisco, while continuing to work part time so that the family could send his brother, now a Catholic priest, to the seminary.

It&'s a work ethic he will certainly need to call on as Intel moves to expand further into markets such as communications and the digital home.