Why is Apple Restructuring its AI Leadership Team?

Apple is navigating a leadership transition within its AI division. 

John Giannandrea, the company’s Senior Vice President for Machine Learning and AI Strategy, is stepping down from his executive position. 

He will transition to an advisory role before his planned retirement in the spring of 2026 in order to manage effective succession and provide continuity for Apple's AI initiatives.

The company has confirmed that Amar Subramanya will join as its new Vice President of AI. He will report to Craig Federighi, Apple's Senior Vice President of Software Engineering. 

This executive change is prompting a wider reorganisation, with the remaining parts of John’s former team moving under the leadership of Sabih Khan and Eddy Cue, who oversee operations and services respectively. 

The move updates Apple's reporting lines rather than signalling a fundamental change in its technical direction.

New leadership to guide AI strategy

The reshuffle modifies the structure guiding the development of AI features across Apple's services and devices. 

John's group was previously responsible for key areas including Apple Foundation Models Search, and Knowledge Machine Learning Research and AI Infrastructure – all functions that are integral to many layers of Apple's platforms, from on-device inference to cloud-supported processes like Siri requests.

CEO Tim Cook says: “We are thankful for the role John played in building and advancing our AI work, helping Apple continue to innovate and enrich the lives of our users. AI has long been central to Apple’s strategy, and we are pleased to welcome Amar to Craig’s leadership team and to bring his extraordinary AI expertise to Apple. 

“In addition to growing his leadership team and AI responsibilities with Amar’s joining, Craig has been instrumental in advancing our AI efforts, including overseeing our work to bring a more personalised Siri to users next year.”

Expertise from Google and Microsoft

In his new role Amar will be responsible for Apple Foundation Models and the associated research that underpins Apple's Apple Intelligence features. 

These systems are crucial for services that rely on real-time data input and network behaviour, such as voice commands and cloud processing. 

Apple confirmed that Amar's remit includes managing ML research as well as AI safety and evaluation, all of which are central to functions across device, edge and cloud environments.

Before this appointment, Amar was the Corporate Vice President of AI at Microsoft. He also had a 16-year tenure at Google, where he was the Head of Engineering for the Gemini Assistant. 

His background in large-scale model training and integrating AI into consumer-facing products could support the development of Apple features that require coordination between on-device and external processing. 

This experience is particularly relevant for features that depend on latency-sensitive network paths and adaptable models.

Structural alignment with key business areas

Under the new structure Craig Federighi will oversee a broader portfolio that includes Apple Foundation Models, creating a more unified leadership for teams working on platform integration, client-side operations and server-assisted inference. 

The decision to move parts of John’s previous team to Sabih Khan and Eddy Cue reflects a strategic alignment of AI functions with departments that handle supply chains, media services and other network-integrated offerings.

This change offers insight into how Apple may handle the overlap between device capabilities and network-supported AI. 

Apple Intelligence features, including the more advanced Siri, depend on seamless coordination between local on-device execution and cloud-based operations. 

The presence of John in an advisory capacity until 2026 ensures that ongoing projects can transition smoothly without disrupting the teams managing critical AI infrastructure and Apple Foundation Models. 

The new reporting lines clarify how Apple intends to organise its research engineering and evaluation efforts across its diverse AI programmes.