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iQuestions Faculty, Pat Gelsinger 
 
 
Question: 
 
Does your faith have a place in business? 
 
Answer:  
 
It’s a hard topic, the idea of faith in the workplace. Can you talk to 
others about your faith? 
 
First, you’re there to do a job. You’re not there to be a personal 
evangelist. You’re not there to be a bible-banging individual. You’re 
there to get the job done, and that’s first and most important in the 
workplace. Do your job. 
 
Secondly, be yourself. If I’m a person of faith in the workplace, I keep 
acting the same way as I do at home or in the marketplace. You need 
to be an integrated person. I wish people “Merry Christmas” because I 
believe it is Christmas. I don’t tell people “Happy Holidays.” It’s 
important that you live as an integrated person. You’re not offending 
anybody, you’re trying to be humble about it, but be yourself. Be who 
you are in the workplace, in the home. Wherever you may be, be an 
integrated individual. 
 
But then the question is, can you talk to other people about your faith? 
I follow a very, very simple rule: if they talk at the personal level, you 
can talk to them at the personal level as well. If it’s all professional, 
you stay all professional as well, and then it would be inappropriate for 
you to bring up your faith to them in a conversation. 
 
However, if they go to the personal level, and you start talking about 
the kids’ soccer game, or a sick aunt, or someone else who is having 
 
 
an issue, now you have an open door to talk about your faith as well. 
They might say, “Oh, one of my kids is sick.” Your response might be, 
“Can I pray for them? What’s their name? Is there anything else I can 
do to help you?”—and now you’ve opened up a wide door of a personal 
relationship.  
 
But again, they open that door first, and if they go to the personal 
level, then you can go to the personal level as well and bring your faith 
into the conversation comfortably, humbly, and often very powerfully. 
 
A number of years ago, I had a personal situation, and Andy Grove, 
the president of Intel at the time, a mentor of mine—but he was also a 
profane guy, and he would take my Lord’s name in vain. So, one day 
I’m meeting with Andy, and I just felt I just had to talk to him about 
profanity, so I brought up the subject to him. I said, “You know, Andy, 
I would appreciate if you wouldn’t take my Lord’s name in vain.” 
 
At that point, it was President vs. Junior Engineer. Man, I was 
frightened about the situation and wondered, “Did I go too far?”  
 
His response? “Thank you. I really need to work on that.” 
 
A week or two later, I was at a meeting or a dinner meeting at Intel, 
and his wife was there—Eva—and she came and said, “Thank you, 
thank you. You’re the first person who ever talked to Andy about his 
language.”  
 
That situation just emboldened me, because if I’m ready to present my 
faith in difficult situations in a humble, appealing manner—wow, the 
impact you can have in people’s lives. If you’re ready to approach it 
that way, it’s awesome. 
 
Do it carefully, thoughtfully, think about it, pray about it beforehand, 
but be bolder than you are today.  
Gelsinger -2- 
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