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Pat Gelsinger, once CEO of VMware and later Intel, has announced he’s taken a new job as executive chair and head of technology at Gloo, a Colorado-based startup offering technology tools for churches and other faith-based organizations.
Gelsinger spent 30 years at the x86 processor giant before leaving in 2009 to become president and chief operating officer at storage giant EMC. He jumped to EMC-owned VMware in 2012, and served as CEO until 2021 when he returned to Intel as chief exec and tried to turn the semiconductor goliath around. That effort ended with his sudden departure in December 2024.
In a Monday post on LinkedIn, Gelsinger announced he’s joined Gloo, which he’s already served for nearly a decade as a board member and investor.
“Now more than ever, there is great need for faith-based communities to take an active role in ensuring we shape technology as a force for good,” wrote Pat, who has never been shy of talking and tweeting about his strong long-time Christian faith.
“As we’ve seen with social media, the impact of technology evolutions is swift, deep and long lasting,” he added. “AI is an even more powerful yet nascent tool. It is imperative we ensure AI is used to enhance the human experience, not harm it.”
Gelsinger said his goal at Gloo is to build the “first vertical industry clouds for the faith ecosystem,” with AI playing a central role. That includes developing Gloo AI, a machine-learning platform designed to push what he calls “values-aligned AI.”
Gloo claims its technology platform serves about 100,000 Christian leaders, by providing tools that assist in sermon development, religious education resources, and facilitating community engagement.
Those who view Silicon Valley as largely secular might be surprised at the size of its faith communities – thanks in part to Pat Gelsinger. In 2013, he helped co-found Transforming the Bay with Christ, a non-profit aimed at uniting technologists, business leaders, and churches to promote Christian values and spiritual growth across the region.
Gelsinger has also backed William Jessup University, a private Christian institution based near Sacramento, with a satellite campus in San Jose and a Portland, Oregon, location inaugurated in 2023. The school enrolls about 1,300 students and enforces a strict code of conduct, including bans on “unmarried heterosexual cohabitation.” It was also involved in a 2023 legal effort to secure religious exemptions from federal anti-discrimination laws, including those covering LGBTQ individuals.
Given its stance on no sex before marriage, one wonders where the university stands on chief executives being screwed by boards of directors, so to speak.
He has also written two books on religion, 2003’s “Balancing Your Family, Faith & Work,” and 2008’s “The Juggling Act: Bringing Balance to Your Faith, Family, and Work.”
In 2016 he told Forbes his favorite Bible verse and guiding principle is Colossians 3:23: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.”
“I love that verse. I can get the snot kicked out of me at a board meeting or during a sales call, and I can rebound the next day, full of joy and purpose, to start anew,” he told the magazine. ®