Speech
2026 Commencement Address at MIT
Lisa Su tells the MIT class of 2026 what MIT taught her as a student and what she learned leading AMD: run toward the hardest problems, build confidence by figuring things out, and make your own luck.
The recording
Video from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the original recording. Open on YouTube.
Quotes, in order
Each quote links to the moment it is said. A Verified source label means the words were checked against the recording; other quotes are the widely published wording of a passage, which can differ slightly from what was said.
I started believing in myself, not the confidence that I would always know the answer, but the confidence that even when I didn't know the answer, I could figure it out.
Verified source2026 Commencement Address at MIT · Watch at 5:02 · Massachusetts Institute of Technology on YouTube
MIT teaches you to think deeply, but it also teaches you to build, to test ideas, to keep going when the first experiment, or even the fifth experiment doesn't work.
Verified source2026 Commencement Address at MIT · Watch at 5:42 · Massachusetts Institute of Technology on YouTube
Engineering actually doesn't care how old you are. It actually cares whether you have good ideas.
Verified source2026 Commencement Address at MIT · Watch at 6:31 · Massachusetts Institute of Technology on YouTube
One of my mentors told me something that I've never forgotten. Run towards the hardest problems.
Verified source2026 Commencement Address at MIT · Watch at 6:40 · Massachusetts Institute of Technology on YouTube
Hard problems really teach you what you're capable of.
Verified source2026 Commencement Address at MIT · Watch at 7:00 · Massachusetts Institute of Technology on YouTube
I decided that calling it the engineer's instinct was the right thing. It's the ability to face what seemed like an unsolvable problem, break it down, and methodically work through it step by step.
Verified source2026 Commencement Address at MIT · Watch at 8:21 · Massachusetts Institute of Technology on YouTube
The greatest satisfaction of my career has been bringing people together to do something more than any of us thought was possible.
Verified source2026 Commencement Address at MIT · Watch at 8:47 · Massachusetts Institute of Technology on YouTube
AI can't decide which problems are worth solving. It can't make the hard judgments when the data is not there. It can't take responsibility for the outcomes.
Verified source2026 Commencement Address at MIT · Watch at 11:24 · Massachusetts Institute of Technology on YouTube
The world does not just need people who know how to use powerful tools. It needs people who know what to use them for, people with a sense of purpose, judgment, courage.
Verified source2026 Commencement Address at MIT · Watch at 11:54 · Massachusetts Institute of Technology on YouTube
Luck is not just being in the right place at the right time. It is taking the risk to work on something really hard. It's challenging yourself. It's choosing problems where you may not know the answer. It's surrounding yourself with people who make you better.
Verified source2026 Commencement Address at MIT · Watch at 13:03 · Massachusetts Institute of Technology on YouTube
Somewhere in the years ahead, you're going to walk into another room where you have absolutely no idea what you're doing. You've done this before. Go figure it out.
Verified source2026 Commencement Address at MIT · Watch at 14:27 · Massachusetts Institute of Technology on YouTube
The recording is the institute's own. We link to and embed it from the institute's channel and quote short excerpts.