Apple has appointed Amar Subramanya, formerly of Microsoft and Google, as its new Vice President of AI. He replaces John Giannandrea, who is stepping down after seven years to serve as an advisor before retiring in 2026.
This leadership transition marks a significant pivot for the technology giant as it seeks to accelerate the capabilities of Apple Intelligence and refine its generative AI offerings. Subramanya joins the company with a heavyweight resume, having most recently served as a corporate vice president of AI at Microsoft. His deep roots in the sector also trace back to a sixteen-year tenure at Google where he led engineering for the Gemini assistant.
He steps into the role replacing John Giannandrea, who joined Apple in 2018 to consolidate its fragmented machine learning teams. Giannandrea went on to successfully build a privacy-focused infrastructure that became the bedrock of the company’s current AI features. Tim Cook acknowledged these contributions in a statement on Monday. Cook said that “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.”
The arrival of Subramanya signals a fresh chapter where Apple appears poised to blend its hardware dominance with the latest advancements in large language models. He will report directly to software engineering chief Craig Federighi and oversee critical areas including foundation models and machine learning research.
The industry views this as a strategic coup given Subramanya’s specific experience in scaling complex generative models for consumer products. His background suggests a renewed focus on the underlying architecture that powers features like a more personalized Siri. Given Apple’s laggard-like ways in AI, this appointment is expected to catalyse one of the most cash-rich companies on the planet.
Tim Cook expressed enthusiasm for the appointment and noted that AI has long been central to the company strategy. Cook stated that “we are pleased to welcome Amar to Craig’s leadership team and to bring his extraordinary AI expertise to Apple.” The reshuffle also sees operational responsibilities shifting to other executives like Sabih Khan and Eddy Cue, which allows the core AI team to focus purely on research and safety evaluation.
This streamlined structure aims to help Apple catch up to rivals by integrating more powerful generative models directly into the iPhone experience. The company is betting that Subramanya can bridge the gap between pure research and the seamless user utility that Apple is famous for delivering. It is a warm welcome for a veteran engineer who now holds one of the most critical portfolios in Silicon Valley.
