Synaptics® Incorporated today announced the appointment of Rahul Patel as its new President and Chief Executive Officer, and a Director of the company. Patel, a seasoned semiconductor industry executive, succeeds Ken Rizvi, Synaptics’ CFO, who served as Interim CEO since February 2025 and will continue in his CFO role. Patel's appointment is set to drive the company’s next chapter of innovation and growth across its core areas of Processing, Connectivity, and Sensing.
With over three decades of leadership experience in the semiconductor industry, Rahul Patel brings a proven track record of driving growth and product innovation. His expertise is particularly strong in high-performance Edge-AI wireless connectivity solutions for various devices, including handsets, tablets, PCs, wearables (like smartwatches and earbuds), and IoT applications. He also has extensive experience in networking and broadband solutions for both enterprise and home markets.
Prior to joining Synaptics, Patel spent a decade at Qualcomm, where his most recent role was SVP and Group General Manager of the Connectivity, Broadband, & Networking Group. In this position, he was responsible for overseeing a multi-billion-dollar portfolio of wireless networking and connectivity businesses. Before his tenure at Qualcomm, Patel spent 13 years at Broadcom in various senior leadership roles, including Senior Vice President and General Manager, Wireless Connectivity Group. There, he played a pivotal role in expanding Broadcom’s leadership in Wi-Fi®, Bluetooth®, and GPS across all market segments.
“On behalf of the Board of Directors, we are delighted to welcome Rahul as Synaptics’ next CEO. Rahul’s extensive semiconductor expertise and strong vision uniquely position him to accelerate our growth and innovation, steering us into our next chapter as we broaden our market reach,” said Nelson Chan, Chairman of Synaptics’ Board of Directors. “Rahul’s deep expertise with wireless connectivity, coupled with his proven track record of launching successful product lines and developing high-performing global teams, will be instrumental in advancing our technology roadmap and driving long-term growth. I’d like to sincerely thank Ken for his exceptional leadership as Interim CEO and for ensuring the seamless execution of our strategic initiatives during this transition period.”
“I am truly honored and excited to join Synaptics, a leader in high-performance Processing, Connectivity, and Sensing solutions,” said Rahul Patel. “Synaptics’ culture of innovation, exceptional engineering talent, and diversified portfolio of solutions uniquely position the company to excel. I look forward to working with the talented team at Synaptics to execute on our growth roadmap and deliver next-generation technology that brings unparalleled value to our customers, partners, and investors.”
Synaptics is driving innovation in AI at the Edge, bringing AI closer to end users and transforming how we engage with intelligent connected devices, whether at home, at work, or on the move. As a go-to partner for forward-thinking product innovators, Synaptics powers the future with its cutting-edge Synaptics Astra™ AI-Native embedded compute, Veros™ wireless connectivity, and multimodal sensing solutions. We’re making the digital experience smarter, faster, more intuitive, secure, and seamless. From touch, display, and biometrics to AI-driven wireless connectivity, video, vision, audio, speech, and security processing, Synaptics is the force behind the next generation of technology enhancing how we live, work, and play.
TechIntelPro empowers B2B technology decision-makers with the latest industry trends, deep insights, leadership perspectives and actionable intelligence to drive both organizational and professional milestones—and thrive on the tech pulse.