Dr. A Thampy Thomas was born April 11, 1946 in the port city of Cochin in Kerala, India. He is an electric engineer most known for his contributions to microprocessor pipeline architecture, specifically as the founder of NexGen microsystems. He also co-founded Elxsi in 1979 - it is believed to be the first startup founded by an Indian in Silicon Valley. Dr. Thomas holds Ph.D. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani.
As Elxsi's co-founder, Dr. Thomas served as the Senior Vice President of Engineering from 1979 to 1985. Elxsi was the first computer company to use more than one processor. Elxsi investors included the Tata Group and Arthur Rock. After Elxsi, Dr. Thomas founded NexGen Microsystems. Nexgen was best known for its unique implementation of the x86 architecture in its processors. Their processors would translate code designed to run on the traditionally CISC-based x86 architecture to run on the chip's internal RISC architecture. Much of the underlying theory was developed during Dr. Thomas' doctorate work, under the supervision of his advisor, Dr. Ed Davidson. Dr. Thomas held a variety of roles at NexGen, including President, CEO, and Chairman. Nexgen went public and became the only microprocessor to have significant success against Intel. In 1995, AMD acquired Nexgen.
Dr. Thomas has since become an accomplished angel investor and has served on numerous boards. He served as the Chairman and CEO of PostX (acquired by IronPort, acquired by Cisco), Director at Micro Linear Corporation (acquired by Sirenza), Director of Liquid Robotics, Board Member at Jupiter Research Foundation, and Director at Vintners' Alliance.