Cristiano Amon
Electrical engineer Cristiano Amon is Qualcomm’s president and CEO, guiding its work on AI in personal devices. He earns an electrical engineering degree at UNICAMP in 1992, starts at NEC’s Brazilian unit, then joins Qualcomm’s wireless business in Latin America. After helping turn around Vesper, he returns to Qualcomm’s chip group and becomes company president in 2018. In 2025, he steers Qualcomm’s on-device AI strategy as Snapdragon X chips power AI PCs, and TIME names him to its TIME100 AI list. As of October 2026, he remains CEO and leads a Qualcomm keynote on agentic AI.
Timeline
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1992
Engineering in Campinas
He earns a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering at UNICAMP in 1992, then joins NEC's Brazilian unit after graduation.
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1996
Expanding Qualcomm in Latin America
Qualcomm hires him to help expand its wireless business across Latin America.
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1990s–2003
Turning around Vésper
At Brazilian wireless operator Vesper, he serves first as chief technology officer and later as chief operating officer, then helps sell the company to Embratel in 2003.
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2004–2017
Returning to Qualcomm
Qualcomm brings him back in 2004, and he rises through its chip business into QCT product-management and co-president roles.
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2018
Becoming Qualcomm president
He becomes Qualcomm president in 2018.
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2025
Moving AI to devices
He steers Qualcomm's on-device AI strategy, while Snapdragon X chips power new AI PCs.
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2025
A TIME100 AI selection
TIME names him to its 2025 list of 100 influential people in artificial intelligence.
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Since 2021
Leading Qualcomm into agentic AI
He remains Qualcomm's president and CEO and leads a keynote on agentic AI at Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon Summit.
Sources and credits
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- Cristiano Amon - Wikipedia
- Who is Cristiano Amon, Qualcomm’s new CEO?
- Cristiano Amon Promoted to Qualcomm President
- Cristiano Amon | Fortune
- Brasileiro Cristiano Amon está entre os 100 mais influentes em IA da Time
- Qualcomm boss says tech will turn us into ‘walking cameras’ with AI systems on our face