No one in charge of AMD's server strategy could "beat Intel" given their respective resources. However AMD has done nothing to promote their brand or find niche markets overlooked by Intel, or simply market their products better. Leaving their bread and butter x86 server processors to rust out while pouring R&D into AMD's entry for the yet another ARM server chip for a non existent market is a prime example of incompetence.
Well put, but I also believe you're being a bit harsh on AMD's departing "server guru."
After all, he came over as part of the SeaMicro acquisition in 2012, according to the article. It's likely that he came on, discovered AMD wasn't the right fit, and decided to move on.
Can't blame him, given how far down AMD has sunk in recent years.