Former CEO of Intel, Intel Capital
Barrett Says Innovation, Startups Key to Irish Growth
Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Craig Barrett, chairman of the Irish Technology Leadership Group, discusses Ireland's need to invest in its educational institutions to spur innovation and startup companies.
Barrett, former chief executive officer of Intel Corp., speaks from Limerick, Ireland, with Margaret Brennan on Bloomberg Television's "InBusiness." (Source: Bloomberg)
About Craig Barrett
Craig Barrett, former CEO and chairman of Intel, has continued to speak publicly about U.S. competitiveness, education reform, and the semiconductor industry. In a 2025 appearance at the Global Quantum Forum, Barrett discussed the trajectory of Moore’s Law and the development of the quantum computing ecosystem, noting that multiple qubit modalities have continued to progress over 25 years and that the trend of exponential growth in computing is “very convincing.” He also referenced the observation that human beings are “terrible at understanding the impact of exponential technologies.” Across numerous appearances from 2011 to 2021, Barrett has consistently argued that the U.S. K-12 education system is underperforming, citing international test scores and the percentage of students at grade level. He has said that the system lacks accountability and that “there is no silver bullet” to fix it, advocating for high expectations, well-trained teachers, and internationally benchmarked assessments. Barrett has also discussed the importance of STEM education for economic competitiveness, noting that companies like Intel hire the best talent globally and that a U.S. workforce that is not as well-trained as foreign workforces is a disadvantage. He has been involved with the BASIS charter school network in Arizona, which he said has produced four of the top 10 high schools in the country according to certain rankings.
Transcript (19 segments)
✨ AI-enhanced transcript with speaker attribution
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Interviewer0:00
Part of the bigger question here for Ireland to get back on its feet, our next guest says it has to invest more in startups. Intel's former CEO and chairman is in Ireland this week trying to connect Irish startups with American venture capitalists, bringing Silicon Valley to the Emerald Isle. Craig Barrett is currently chair of the Irish Technology Leadership Group. He's live this morning from Limerick, Ireland. Craig, good afternoon to you there. All the talk is about austerity and cutbacks. You're advocating long-term investment. How receptive are people to this message?
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Craig Barrett0:35
Well, we'll see when the government comes out with this budget. But I think most people I've talked to in Ireland recognize the future is going to be related to innovation and entrepreneurship, more research in the universities, more spin-out of startup companies, and that takes continued investment in the educational institutions.
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Interviewer0:53
Well, when you were running Intel, you brought business there to Ireland. Google has operations there. There are a number of technology firms. A big part of that is the tax rate, 12.5%, a fraction of what it is elsewhere in Europe. Are you concerned that that's in jeopardy now if Ireland has to get external help?
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Craig Barrett1:14
Well, I haven't seen any evidence around the world that raising the tax rate provides any incentive to increase investment or create new jobs. So I think it's pretty obvious that people would be concerned about an increasing tax rate and what that might do to job creation or the economy as a whole.
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Interviewer1:30
Well, the double Irish, the Dutch sandwich — I mean, there are ways to legally keep your tax rate quite low as a corporation there. If you were still running Intel and the Irish government had to hike the tax rate, would you keep business there?
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Craig Barrett1:47
Well, you're not going to do anything instantaneously. You have billions of dollars of manufacturing capability in the ground and thousands of well-trained workers doing a great job. So there's not going to be an instantaneous response. But I think Ireland is looking at the long-term future of Ireland. A big part of that in the past has been foreign direct investment, companies like Intel that you mentioned. I don't think any country or any economy would want to jeopardize those positions going forward.
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Interviewer2:18
Is there a danger in attracting too much multinational investment versus growing businesses domestically?
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Craig Barrett2:28
Well, I think that's the issue that Ireland faces. Ireland grew dramatically during the 1990s and early part of this century on the basis of foreign direct investment. I think that's probably played out to a large degree now because Asia has opened up — China and India and other areas — which are probably better venues for new manufacturing facilities. So I think Ireland is faced with the prospect of having to grow in the future by indigenous growth, using the brainpower of its workforce to grow. And that's why research and development, new startups, entrepreneurship is so important to the country.
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Interviewer3:06
Have you been impressed with what you've found in terms of some of those startups?
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Craig Barrett3:11
Oh, absolutely. Actually, a week ago at Stanford University, we had the Science Foundation Ireland and Enterprise Ireland come over, and many of the universities came over and gave a thumbnail sketch of their research activities. We had corporations and VCs. They were very impressed with what they had. And I've had the opportunity to talk to some of the individual researchers in the last couple of days.
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Interviewer3:35
We're back now with Intel's former CEO and chairman Craig Barrett, who is in Limerick, Ireland this week for a Silicon Valley Comes to Ireland conference. Craig, thanks for staying with us through the break. I want to pick it up here and sort of broaden out the topic. Because what we're talking about with Ireland is really a story similar to one that's being had here at home. Which is, if you've got to cut debt, deficits, have some austerity, what is the thing you shouldn't touch? What actually endangers the long-term growth prospects? Is there a country that you would point to, or a model of a country, that really is able to foster innovation, particularly in technology?
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Craig Barrett4:14
Well, I think you're absolutely right, Margaret. The issue here in Ireland is identical to the U.S.: how do you grow your economy going forward, and is it going to grow by innovation and entrepreneurship? You have to keep the investment in R&D, research and development, at a high level, probably increase it going forward. There are a few countries around the world that have a higher investment in R&D as a percentage of their gross national product: Finland, Israel, who have seen great strides in entrepreneurial activity and done a good job in that space; Singapore as well; Korea increasingly so. They're good examples around the world. I think the real challenge, though, for every established economy is this is the technique in the future you're going to use to grow your economy. And you're going to have to invest in education, your universities, basic research and development. If you cut back on those, you're basically cutting off your future.
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Interviewer5:15
We had Nobel laureate Edmund Phelps on this show earlier this week. His specialty is employment and wages. He's advocating the creation, really not only in this country but particularly in the United States, of a First National Bank of Innovation, a network of banks to finance innovative products, like a Farm Credit system. Is that something that you would be supportive of?
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Craig Barrett5:40
Well, you need the vehicle to foster new ideas and bring them to commercialization. And whether that's through seed capital, angel capital, venture capital, or through some form of innovation banking system, any of those I think could work. In the United States, you have a great venture capital system. It's pulled back a little bit with this recession, but hopefully it'll grow in the future. Places like Ireland, the venture capital system is just getting going. But you do need that financing mechanism to get these entrepreneurial ideas off the ground.
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Interviewer6:18
Does it bother you, though, if that financing mechanism has government support? Is there something that can actually hurt innovation, or is that necessary?
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Craig Barrett6:29
Well, if the government support means the government is going to pick and choose winning categories, then I would opt out of that system. I'd go with the private venture capital system. I think you want a system which is really policy neutral and is going to just fund the best ideas, the most opportunistic ideas that are presented to it, not by some prescribed or predisposed industrial policy model.
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Interviewer7:00
So you've been in Ireland, switching gears back to there, for three days for this summit. You've brought along executives from Palm, from Nokia, from a number of different companies. Have you seen any real pledges or promises of support?
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Craig Barrett7:15
Well, the Irish Technology Leadership Group is over here with 25 representatives of venture capital firms and businesses. They're examining a number of Irish startup companies. Tonight they'll announce one of their top picks or winners for a prize. They're going to bring another seven of those back to Silicon Valley for detailed discussions with venture capitalists there. So I think there's a lot of progress being made. There's a lot of good work going on in the universities here. They're all creating innovation centers; they're trying to teach entrepreneurship and innovation to their graduate students. So Ireland is moving, really moving ahead on this topic.
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Interviewer7:58
All right. Well, good luck in that role. Thank you, Craig, for making the time. Craig Barrett there joining us from Limerick, Ireland.