Margaret Burgraff is a vice president at Intel who is leading the company's efforts to increase gender diversity in technology. She discusses her career path from growing up on a farm in Ireland to working at Apple and eventually becoming a top executive at Intel. Burgraff believes that women face barriers in technology fields due to stereotypes and a masculine culture, and she is actively working to make Intel more inclusive to help attract and retain female employees.

1. Tech giant Intel wants to hire women,
and lots of them. Intel vice-president,
Corkwoman Margaret Burgraff,
tells how she’s going to do it
Tanglewood
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12 Magazine May 17 2015 The Sunday Business Post
Margaret Burgraff (far right) is a top boardroom figure at Intel, one of the largest tech companies in the world
Tech’snew

3. As Intel designates
2015 the year of
‘Women in Intel’, one
of the technology
giant’s newest
vice-presidents,
Cork-born Margaret
Burgraff, talks about
picking potatoes,
making it in Silicon
Valley, Facebook,
inclusivity in the
workplace, and
‘having it all’
Words: FionaNess
Picture:ChipHolley
Y
ou’dexpectavice-pres-
ident of Intel to know a
thing or two about tech
security. In the com-
pany’s Leixlip factory,
security against intel-
lectual property theft is
at Willie Wonka levels.
No one knows what
goes on inside the labs;
the workers themselves don’t know the compo-
nents of what they’re producing. Which is why
I’m surprised that when googling one of Intel’s
newest vice-presidents, Cork woman Margaret
Burgraff, her entire Facebook life pops up for all
the world to see.
There’s Margaret at the country club, Margaret
attheLouvre,Margaretwithheradorablyimpish
boys,Margaretwithherclosegirlfriends,Margaret
withChampagne.There’sMargaretmountainbik-
ing,Margaretyogaposing,MargaretwithherIrish
mammy, Margaret with her American husband
– on a mountaintop – at sunset. There’s Margaret
looking more fresh, beautiful and fashionable
thansheappearsinanycorporatephotoshoot.But
most of all, there’s Margaret looking really, really
happy. Her hometown of Los Gatos is America’s
33rd wealthiest city.
“It’s not that I was snooping,” I venture sheep-
ishly on a late-night conference call to Intel’s Los
GatosplantinCalifornia’sSiliconValley.“Butyour
Facebook doesn’t have any privacy settings on it,
and there was little else available in the way of
research material . . .”
Aconferencecallisn’tthebestplaceforreading
someone’s reaction to a statement, but from the
stilted silence, I’d say the Facebook stalking has
Burgraff, a self-confessed “Energiser bunny”, a
little surprised.
“A lot of senior people keep their personal life
very private . . . but I feel that’s not being true to
myself,” Burgraff says.
“I am one of six children, my mother is one of
eight and my father was one of 12, and I’m the
onlyoneofmyfamilytohaveemigrated.SoFace-
book is my lazy way of keeping my whole family
involved in my life,” she says, fully rejoining the
conversation.
“I’vebeenadvisedbypeopletolimitwhatIpost,
but I do love life, I have lots of girlfriends, I also
work with my girlfriends’ network, I don’t feel I
have to hide it. I was up at 5am dealing with my
kidsthrowinguponthebed,andtheyareherewith
me right now in this conversation. I am a whole
person. Women – everyone – in the workplace
shouldknowthatit’sokaytobeawholeperson.”
Apart from sparking a severe case of Facebook
envy, Burgraff’s posts put to bed the continuing
debate over whether a woman can ‘have it all’.
Shecan,buttodothisshehasto,asBurgraffsays,
“makeherowncircumstances”;especiallywhen
sheaimsto‘haveitall’asawomanintechnology.
Burgraff’s employer, the computer chip man-
ufacturer Intel, knows this, which is why the
technology giant has designated 2015 the year of
‘WomeninIntel’.Thecompanyisthisyearpump-
ing $300 million into a new hiring and retention
strategy, the goal of which is to ensure that by
2020,Intel’sworkforcefullyreflectstheracialand
sexual make-up of the population. “We want to
become industry leader for inclusion diversity,”
Burgraff says.
Intelhasquiteawaytogotoachievethisparity.
Its US workforce is currently 24 per cent female,
with women making up a scant 19 per cent of
all technical staff. Only 18 per cent of workers at
management level internationally are women.
However, in the first four months of 2015, 41
percentofnewhiresatthecompanywerewom-
en and underrepresented minorities – increased
from 32 per cent last year, according to a report
in Silicone Republic. In the same period, 33 per
centofhiresatseniorlevelwerewomen,upfrom
19 per cent in 2014.
Commentingonthefigures,Intelchiefexecutive
Brian Krzanich said: “I am not going to fool you.
This is hard work. This isn’t rocket science. It’s
harder...Wearetryingtodoinsideacorporation
what society has tried to do for years.”
In the pursuit of Intel’s goal, Burgraff says, “BK
[Krzanich]isseriousaboutbecomingtheindustry
leader, so nothing is off the table.”
DoesthismeanthatIntelwillfollowAppleand
Facebook down the route of paying for egg
freezingforfemaleemployees,amovethat
wouldallowwomentodelayparentingand
so keep them in employment? Burgraff
confirmsthesubjectisunderdiscussion.
“TheheadofHRhasalreadyhadthe
conversation with me about the phi-
losophy of it. I personally find it too
intrusive.Idon’twantmyworkplace
involved in my fertility. I personally
find something nasty about that,”
Burgraff says.
“Anyemployeeprogrammeshave
to be inclusive of males and females.
Payingforbirthcontrol?Iwill
takethatasoneofmymed-
ical benefits. But fertility
treatment? Personally, I
don’t want to be having
conversations with my
management about that.”
For someone who is so
emphatically ‘part of the
conversation’atIntel,it’sin-
terestingtowitnessBurgraff
stride confidently off-mes-
sageontheeggfreezingissue.
Perhapsvice-presidentsta-
tus comes with the clear-
ance to start your own
‘conversation’,orperhaps
it’s just the Cork in her
that makes her so de-
The Sunday Business Post May 17 2015 Magazine 13
tO PAGE 14
breed

4. 14 Magazine May 17 2015 The Sunday Business Post
lightfullyself-assuredandengaging;
in a word – poised.
* * *
B
urgraffbeganhercareerin
technology after graduat-
ing with a degree in com-
puterscienceandeconom-
icsfromUniversityCollege
Cork.In1994,shetookajobinApple
in Cork, which was then a company
on the verge of obscurity.
Family and friends advised her
againsttakingupSteveJobs’sofferto
movetotheUStoworkonthelaunch
ofhisnewiMac(“Appledidn’thavea
lot of money, and people were say-
ing, what are you doing?”). She told
them it would only be a year and, if
it didn’t work out, she could always
come back. It did, and she didn’t.
ByMay2014,Burgraffhadcharged
through Silicon Valley to become
vice-president of Intel’s mobile and
communications group (she will
define Intel’s role in the Internet of
Things). She is one of seven Irish
people to achieve VP status at the
company. Fellow Cork woman Ann
Kelleher is a corporate vice-presi-
dent.Burgraffsaysshehopestofollow
Kelleher’s lead.
For now, the Cork woman’s seat
at the top table gives her a direct role
in Intel’s “inclusion diversity” strat-
egy, as it aims to build a “pipeline”
of female engineers and computer
scientists. She actively supports the
hiringandretentionofmorewomen
at the company, and endorses pro-
grammes to support more positive
representationwithinthetechnology
and gaming industries.
“Unfortunately,womenhavebeen
underrepresentedintechnology,and
a lot of times you feel very isolated
when you’re the only woman in a
staff group,” she says. “Women have
to prove that we have a right to a
seatatthetable,overandoveragain,
and eventually it’s very off-putting.
Technical males just don’t have to go
through the same scrutiny.
“There are interruptions when a
womanisspeaking–it’smucheasier
tospeakoverher;I’veseenthismul-
tipletimes.Oryoufindamangetting
credit for an idea for a woman had,
justbecauseherepeatedit,orbecause
themanagerintheroomhearsitjust
becauseit’sfromaman’svoice.Ihave
experienced this myself.
“We’reonafasttreadmillworking
in technology, and it’s getting faster
and faster, and keeping up on that
treadmillisdifficult.Womenneedto
grasp the mindset needed.”
Or, as another well-known wom-
an in tech might say, lean in?
“Many of the things [Sheryl Sand-
berg] observed in Lean In – women
deliberatelyputtingthemselvesinthe
last row of seats at a conference – I
haveforsureseenthat,”Burgraffsays.
“Or if the admin is not in the room,
theygrabthenotepadandstarttaking
notesforeveryone,eventhoughthey
are a senior director. I point out, ‘you
makeyourselflookreallyjuniorifyou
start making the notes’.”
It could be interpreted as feminist
invective,butBurgraffblindsidesthat
label by being a warm, inclusive and
friendly interviewee.
“I’m glad Sheryl wrote the book
because it made the conversation
[about women’s place in the work-
place]public.Peoplearesaying,what
doesSherylknow,shewasbornwitha
silverspoon . . .butIthinkthemes-
sageinherbookisgreat.Ihaveavery
different story, but I can empathise.”
✽ ✽ ✽
B
urgraff’s very different
story began in Berrings
National School, Co, Cork,
where there were 100 pu-
pils in the primary school
and“fiveofthemwereinmyfamily”.
Her father had bought a farm in
Berrings during a property bubble
in1972.Thebubbleburst,andhehad
toseekworkinalocaldairy,risingat
4am every morning to work while
her mother tended the children and
the farm. “He came home at noon
everydaytospendtimewithus,be-
cause he knew my mother only had
so much patience,” Burgraff says. “It
wasaprotectedupbringing,butIhad
to work hard.”
She spent her summers picking
potatoes with her siblings, but says
she“neverfeltboundedbythefarm”.
“When you’re seven years old and
you’re looking at the dirt in your
fingernails, and doing a process of
elimination of what you don’t want
to do when you grow up . . . you’re
looking at cars going past your gate
and thinking you want to go where
they’re going.
“WhenIstartedworkinginApple,
the fact I was in a nice clean office
with air conditioning and heating
meant that it didn’t feel like work.
But nowadays it does feel like work.
My brain feels stressed at the end of
the day.” Yoga, running, and cycling
inthemountainswithherboyskeep
body and soul together.
Burgraff credits her mother with
inspiring a strong work ethic in her.
“Working hard is not an issue. Lots
of times, I haven’t been the smart-
est or most attractive person in the
room,butIknewIcouldworkharder
than anyone in the room, and that’s
a powerful tool.”
Speaking softly in a slightly brittle
American accent, she sounds as if
she is constantly smiling. And as we
talk,herpacequickensastheupsand
downs of Cork infiltrate her clipped
California-speak. She exclaims that
talking to someone from home is
“bringing out the Cork in me”, and
becauseIlikeherandwanthertolike
me,Idon’tpointoutthatit’sactually
a Scottish accent she’s listening to.
The fact is, women warm to Bur-
graff,despiteherownadmissionthat
insomewayssheis“morelikesome
ofthemenIhaveworkedwithinthe
past 20 years”.
Her Intel mentees adore her and
women throng to her for advice at
conferences.Alotofherappealisthat
she’s not afraid to be female and the
smartest person in the room.
“Someoftheinauthenticthingswe
From top:
Burgraff at
work in Intel;
pictured with
her family on
her Communion
day; and with
her husband
and two sons in
California
FROM PAGE 13
MARGARET
BURGRAFF
‘WOMEN HAVE
TO PROVE THAT
WE HAVE A
RIGHT TO A
SEAT AT THE
TABLE, OVER
AND OVER
AGAIN’

5. asfemaleshavehadtodoworkingin
tech...forexample,itwascleartome
when I started working in Apple that
tobeconsideredanengineer,Ihadto
dress in khaki pants and a shirt and
look geeky, and I fell for that.
“So, for the first five years of my
career,that’showIdressed.Oneday,I
wokeupandIwaslookingatthenice
dresses and purses in my wardrobe,
andIthought,youknowanengineer
can dress like that too. Since I started
dressing that way in Intel, more and
more girls have started to bring out
their nice clothes to go to work.
“Now that we have at least open
conversationsaboutdiversity,wecan
explore that,” Burgraff says. “When I
startedmycareerfirst,therewasn’tan
openconversationaboutit.Therewas
a uniform that stated that the geeki-
er you looked, the smarter you were
considered. Perception was reality.”
She tells the story of when, at the
beginning of her career at Apple, she
was“runningtheIntelchiptransition”.
Thatthetaskwas“extremelyintense”
is an understatement; it drove her to
complete burnout.
“Luckily,Ijustwenttothespa,”Bur-
graff says. The phrase is jarringly in-
congruouswiththeimageconstructed
of a person who had just assimilated
Apple’sentireplatformlinewithIntel
technology.
“My hands were just hanging out
limply,whilesomeonewasdoingmy
nails. I needed to take that day. That
time you feel you do need that day in
the spa – I say, take that day. Do not
compromise your health [for your
job].”
The need for the odd emergency
spa visit aside, Burgraff believes that
the reason why women in particular
leave their engineering careers early
isalittlemorecomplexthantheirin-
abilitytoleanin.“Wehavenoproblem
attractingtalentinitially,butforsome
reason,womenleave–andwedonot
believe they are leaving just to have
babies,” she says. Part of the reason,
she adds, is that ‘engineer’ is not a
gender-neutral word.
“Thestereotypicalimageofanengi-
neerhasturnedwomenoffengineer-
ing. Up until 1984, computer science
courses were 34 per cent female, but
then the numbers began to dip. At
exactly the same time, the PC started
to take off. And the PC was marketed
towards men.”
Thismasculinisationoftechnology
continues apace today, Burgraff says,
and therefore continues to alienate
women working in that area.
“Look at the psychology of what’s
going on at the different tech trade
shows–it’saveryuncomfortableen-
vironmenttogointoifyou’reawom-
an. The ‘booth babes’ [models who
are used to promote the gadgets on
display]arepartoftheissue.Theyare
notathreattomeasperson,but95per
cent of the attendees are males who
have been titillated all day by these
booth babes. At the end of the day,
theyturnto[fellowfemaleattendees]
who they think they actually have a
shotat...it’snotasafeenvironment.
Sayingtechissexyisaninsulttoboth
men and women.”
Another reason why Intel fails to
retain female staff, Burgraff believes,
is that “people like to hire people like
themselves”. So, for example, if you
have mostly white males in position
ofpower,thepoolofnewhiresismore
likely to be more white males.
“I also have to challenge my own
biases,” says Burgraff, who is known
for putting together female-friendly
teams. l“I grew up playing camogie,
I like being around women, so I hire
themwhenIhavetheopportunity.But
I have to ensure I allow space for the
best candidate to win, to make sure
that the initial candidacy reach-out
isn’t just a lot of Margarets.”
AcknowledgingthatIntelhasalong
way to go to achieve gender parity,
Burgraffsaysthecompanyis“keeping
a very firm eye on [hiring retention
rates] because we are starting from
behind. We realise we have a gap, so
for a short while we will have a bias
towardswomenwhilehiring,inorder
to make up for the sins of the past”.
However, not everyone at the cor-
poration is cheerleading for ‘Women
inIntel’-andnotallofthosedissenters
are men.
“Becausetheconversationissoloud
rightnow,somewomenfeel:‘Theonly
onlyreasonI’monthisteamisbecause
I’mawoman,soIwantoffthisteam’.
I have to get back to those women to
say: ‘Of course it’s not. You’ve been
at Intel for 15 years and you’ve had
to work damn hard to get to where
you’re at’.
“Thewomencomingintodaywon’t
find it easier to progress; what we’re
ensuring is that each male manager
won’t automatically be going to the
benchoftheirfriendswhenrecruiting.
We can’t allow the peo-
ple who are concerned
about the initiative to
continue the problem,”
Burgraff says, acknowl-
edging that many male
employeeshavejumped
in quickly to become
part of the solution.
Sofar,soaltruistic;yet
achieving ‘diversity inclusion’ is also
essentialforIntel’sbottomline.Inare-
centreportonAdvancingDiversityin
Technology,thecompanystated:“The
peoplewhobuyconsumerelectronics
come from all walks of life, so it only
makes sense that the people creating
consumerelectronicsshouldtoo.”Or,
rather,howdoyoumakeproductsthat
appeal to women or black people or
Hispanic people, if no one on your
staffunderstandswhatthesesections
of the population want?
“Themorediverseyourstaffis,the
more diverse the mindset is that’s
coming to the table with ideas,” Bur-
graff says. “Personally, for me [Intel’s
diversity strategy] is not just about
equality in the workplace – I really
hope we move that conversation to
equalityinthehomeplace.Inmysit-
uation,myhusbandisastay-at-home
dad,andIwouldsaythereisfarmore
discriminationagainsthimasafather
in the homeplace, than I have as a
woman at work.”
✽ ✽ ✽
W
hileencouragingall
her female men-
tees to develop a
‘five-year plan’,
Burgraff’s own
five-yearplancentresheavilyaround
makingfamilytimecount.“Whenwe
talk about freezing eggs . . . I’d love if
I could freeze my two boys [aged 11
and 8] where they are right now, so
that when I’m on top of my career,
I can come back . . . I want to make
the time I am with them special, and
make it count.
“Because I have been so busy and
myhusbandstaysathome,inthenext
five years I want to circle him back
into it. The kids will grow up and . . .
attheendoftheday,ifIhavethemost
fabulous career ever and I lose them,
then I lose everything.”
Despitebeing“super-excited”about
her new role in Intel and effusive
about her boys, there are some fac-
ets of Burgraff’s life she’ll never be
able to alter, through any amount of
planning – such as the loneliness of
the immigrant culture.
“When my dad was dying of bone
cancer,Iwasn’tabletobethere.Ivisit-
edthreetimesinthelastyearofhislife.
Iwasn’tthere.Myfamilyweremylife
growingup,andyetmychildrendon’t
gettoseetheirchildren.Youmissthe
humanconnections,sothereisasac-
rifice. But then again, I have all of the
shoes and dresses I could ever want
. . . If only I could have my cousins in
myclosetwithme,thewaywespent
allourtimeinthereaskids!”Shegives
a girlish shriek.
“Happy Irish woman,” Burgraff
gurgles without pause, when asked
todescribeherselfinthreewords.No
conversation needed.
MargaretBurgraffisakeynotespeakerat
SwipeSummit,TheSundayBusinessPost’s
360 digital strategy summit, on May 28.
Seeswipesummit.comforbookingdetails;
@swipe360; #summitsummit
The Sunday Business Post May 17 2015 Magazine 15
Clockwise from
right: Burgraff
at an Intel
meeting; making
a recruitment
video; and during
a company visit
to South Africa
margaret
burgraff
‘I knew I could
work harder than
anyone in the
room, and that’s a
powerful tool’