Ambiq Micro Inc. has welcomed Dr. Bernard (Bernie) Banks to its Board of Directors. Dr. Banks is a distinguished leader, author, educator, and military veteran, with nearly three decades of service as a commissioned U.S. Army officer.

In recognition of his service, Dr. Banks was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General by President Barack Obama upon his military retirement in 2016.

“As Ambiq enters its next phase of growth, strong leadership and governance are more important than ever,” Ambiq CEO Fumihide Esaka said. “Dr. Banks’ deep expertise in organizational leadership, talent development, and strategic decision-making will be a valuable addition to our board as we expand our ultra-low-power edge AI solutions across global markets.”

Dr. Banks has held prominent leadership and academic roles across military and civilian institutions. He previously served as a department head at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and as a professor and senior leadership team member at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He currently serves as director of Rice University’s Doerr Institute for New Leaders and as a professor in the Practice of Leadership within Rice University’s graduate and undergraduate business schools. In addition, Dr. Banks has worked closely with global organizations, including Goldman Sachs, Procter & Gamble, Mercedes-Benz, General Electric, IBM, 7-Eleven, and Microsoft, advising on leadership development and organizational effectiveness.

“I am honored to join Ambiq’s Board of Directors at such a pivotal moment in the company’s journey,” Dr. Banks stated. “Ambiq’s commitment to innovation and energy-efficient technology aligns strongly with my passion for building organizations that perform at their best while creating meaningful impact. I look forward to supporting the leadership team as the company continues to grow and lead in edge AI.”

Dr. Banks earned an undergraduate degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, multiple graduate degrees from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, Columbia University, and Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in social-organizational psychology from Columbia University. He is also the author of “The New Science of Momentum: How the Best Coaches and Leaders Build a Fire from a Single Spark,” published in 2025.

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Ambiq’s aims to enable intelligence (artificial intelligence, or AI, and beyond) by delivering the lowest power semiconductor solutions. Ambiq enables its customers to deliver AI compute at the edge where power consumption challenges are the most severe. Ambiq’s technology innovations, built on the patented and proprietary subthreshold power optimized technology (SPOT), fundamentally deliver a multi-fold improvement in power consumption over traditional semiconductor designs. Ambiq has powered more than 290 million devices to date.