Qualcomm Incorporated announced the appointment of Dr. Baaziz Achour as the Chief Technology Officer, at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., and the retirement of Dr. James Thompson, effective February 3, 2025. Dr. Achour currently serves as Deputy Chief Technology Officer.
“As CTO, Baaziz will lead Qualcomm’s R&D and engineering organizations and be responsible for our technology strategy and execution. Baaziz will continue to extend Qualcomm’s leadership in wireless communications, computing, and AI. I look forward to partnering with Baaziz in his new role,” said Cristiano Amon, President and CEO of Qualcomm Incorporated. “I want to thank Jim for his 33 years of considerable contributions to Qualcomm. During his time as CTO, Jim not only advanced Qualcomm’s wireless technology leadership but also expanded our capabilities, including advanced processors and AI. Jim has played a key role in creating one of the industry’s broadest technology portfolios, which has been instrumental to our leadership in mobile, and growth and diversification into Automotive, PC, Industrial, XR, networking, and more.”
Dr. Achour has served as Deputy Chief Technology Officer since 2023. He first joined Qualcomm as a Systems Engineer in 1993. For his tenure with Qualcomm, Dr. Achour has held several leadership roles within the engineering organization and has been essential in contributing to nearly every generation of wireless technology. He was a key part of the leadership team that enabled the accelerated launch of 5G and will lead the evolution of cellular to 6G. Dr. Achour holds a B.S. degree in Physics from the University of Algiers, and master’s and doctorate degrees in Electrical Engineering from Tufts University. He has twenty-four granted U.S. patents in wireless communications.
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