Apple, long a model of Silicon Valley stability, is suddenly facing its biggest personnel overhaul in decades, with senior executives and key engineers both leaving the company.
Just last week, Apple's head of artificial intelligence and interface design resigned. Later, the company announced that its general counsel and head of government relations would also resign. All four executives report directly to CEO Tim Cook, and Apple has an unusual level of executive turnover.
And more changes are likely to come. Johnny Sluge, Apple's senior vice president of hardware technology and one of Apple's most respected executives, recently told Cook that he was seriously considering resigning in the near future, according to people familiar with the matter. Srouji, the architect of Apple's valuable in-house chip development, told colleagues that if he ultimately leaves, he intends to join another company.
At the same time, AI talent is fleeing to technology rivals, with Meta Platforms Inc., OpenAI, and various startups poaching many of Apple's engineers. This could hinder the company's efforts to catch up in artificial intelligence, where it has struggled to make a mark.
All of this added up to one of the most tumultuous periods of Mr. Cook's tenure. While the CEO himself is unlikely to step down anytime soon, the company must restructure its organization and figure out how to thrive in the age of AI.
Internally, some of the departures have caused deep concern, and Cook is trying to further stem the tide by beefing up compensation packages for key personnel. In other cases, departures simply reflect the fact that veteran executives are nearing retirement age. Still, many of the shifts result in a disconcerting brain drain.
While Cook claims that Apple is working on its most innovative product lineup in its history, one that will include foldable iPhones and iPads, smart glasses, robots, and more, Apple hasn't launched a successful new product category in a decade. That leaves it vulnerable to poaching from more nimble competitors that are better at developing next-generation AI-centric devices.
A spokeswoman for Cupertino, California-based Apple declined to comment.
The departure of Apple's head of AI, John Gianandrea, follows a number of setbacks in generative AI. The company's Apple Intelligence platform has been plagued by lag and substandard features. And the much-touted overhaul of the Siri voice assistant is about a year and a half behind schedule. Additionally, the software will rely heavily on a partnership with Alphabet Inc.'s Google to fill gaps in its features.
Against this backdrop, Apple began gradually removing Mr. Gianandrea from his position in March, but has confirmed that he will remain in the position until next spring.
Inside Apple, employees have long expected Mr. Gianandrea to step down, and some have expressed surprise that he would stay on for so long.
But people familiar with the situation say that if he had parted ways with Mr. Gianandrea sooner, it would have been seen as a public acknowledgment of the problem.
Meanwhile, design veteran Alan Dye will head to Meta's Reality Labs division, a surprising departure for one of Apple's fiercest rivals.
Within a day of that news, Apple made a comeback and announced that it had poached one of Meta's executives. Jennifer Newstead, the social networking company's chief legal officer, will become Apple's general counsel. She helped oversee Meta's successful antitrust battle with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. This experience could also come in handy in Apple's own legal battle with the Justice Department over alleged anticompetitive practices.
Read more: Apple hires attorney Mehta as general counsel in latest restructuring
Newstead will succeed Kate Adams, who will retire at the end of 2026 after eight years in the role. Lisa Jackson, vice president of environment, policy and social initiatives, is also leaving the company, and her duties will be shared with other executives.
While the news of Adams' departure was a shock, she has been the company's general counsel for quite some time, especially considering the number of legal disputes Apple currently has.
Meanwhile, Jackson was widely expected to step down soon. The former Obama administration official has kept a low profile during President Donald Trump's second term, choosing to send members of Congress to handle discussions with the White House. Bloomberg News previously reported that she was considering retirement.
These exits are followed by even greater departures. Cook's longtime No. 2, Jeff Williams, stepped down last month after 10 years as chief operating officer. Another veteran leader, Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri, will assume a smaller role in early 2025 and is likely to retire in the not-too-distant future.
The spate of departures reflects Apple's demographic reality. Many of the most senior executives have been with the company for decades and are about the same age, in or near their 60s.
Mr Cook celebrated his 65th birthday last month, prompting speculation that he might join the exodus. People close to the executive say succession planning has been in the works for years, but he is unlikely to leave anytime soon. John Tarnas, 50, Apple's head of hardware engineering, is considered by employees to be a top candidate for CEO.
If Cook steps down, he will likely move into the chairman role and maintain a high level of influence over the iPhone maker. As a result, Apple is unlikely to choose an outsider to be its next CEO, even though executives like Tony Fadell, founder of Nest Labs, have been recommended by outsiders as candidates. Fadell helped invent Apple's iconic iPod, but left the tech giant 15 years ago on less-than-friendly terms.
For now, Cook remains active at Apple and travels frequently on behalf of the company. However, the executive suffers from occasional unexplained tremors in his hands, which has been a hot topic among Apple employees in recent months.
People familiar with the matter said both executives and rank-and-file employees noticed the shaking during meetings and large company gatherings. But those close to Mr. Cook say he is healthy and refute rumors to the contrary circulating in Silicon Valley.
Read more: Apple insiders eyeing Cook's successor
A more pressing risk is the resignation of chip chief Srouzi. Cook has been active in trying to keep him. The commitment included offering him a hefty salary package and the possibility of taking on more responsibility in the future. One scenario some executives are considering internally is promoting him to the role of chief technology officer. A job with extensive oversight of both hardware engineering and silicon technology could make him the second most powerful executive at Apple.
But that change would likely require Ternus' promotion to CEO, a step the company may not be ready to take just yet. And some within Apple say they don't want Srouzi to work for another CEO, even if his title is expanded.
If Srouji retires, the company is likely to name one of his two top lieutenants, Zongjian Chen or Sribalan Santhanam, to replace him, although this is not yet certain.
Recent changes are already reshaping Apple's power structure. More power will be transferred to the executive quartet: Ternus, head of services Eddy Cue, head of software Craig Federighi, and new COO Sabih Khan. Apple's AI efforts have been reallocated across the executive team, with Federighi becoming the company's de facto head of AI.
Ternas will be starring at Apple's 50th anniversary celebration next year, further increasing his profile. And they have been given more responsibility for robotics and smart glasses, two areas seen as drivers of future growth.
Further reorganization may occur. Deirdre O'Brien, head of retail and human resources, has been with Apple for more than 35 years, and head of marketing Greg Jozwiak has been with the company for 40 years. Apple is promoting key lieutenants under both executives and preparing for their eventual departures.
At the same time, Apple is battling an exodus of engineering talent. This has become a serious concern for management, and Apple's human resources organization has been directed to ramp up recruitment and retention efforts, according to people familiar with the situation.
Robby Walker, who oversaw efforts to build search experiences like Siri and ChatGPT, left the company in October. His replacement, Ke Yang, left after just a few weeks on the job and joined Meta's new superintelligence lab.
To fill Gianandrea's shoes, Apple hired Google and Microsoft alumnus Amar Subramanya as vice president of artificial intelligence. He will report to Federighi, head of software.
But the resignation of Luomin Pan, head of AI modeling, has sparked a widespread breakdown within Apple's artificial intelligence organization. Pang joins colleagues such as Tom Gunter and Frank Chu at Meta, which has used impressive compensation packages to attract talent.
Roughly a dozen other top AI researchers have left the organization and the organization is suffering from low morale. The company is increasingly using external AI technologies, such as Google's Gemini, which is a particular concern for employees working on large-scale language models.
Apple's AI robot software team has also seen widespread departures, including leader Jian Zhang, who also joined Meta. The group is tasked with creating the underlying technology for products such as tabletop robots and mobile bots.
The hardware team for the tabletop device, codenamed J595, is also losing talent, some of which is going to OpenAI. Mr. Dai was also a key figure in overseeing the product's software design.
Read more: Apple's AI pushes to rely on robots, security and real-life Siri
The user interface organization has been hit as well, with several team members leaving between 2023 and this year. The layoffs, which culminated in Dai's departure, were driven in part by a desire to integrate AI more deeply into products and a sense that Apple was not catching up in this area. Billy Sorrentino, another top interface leader under Dye, also left for Meta.
The hardware side of the design group, the team responsible for the physical look and feel of Apple products, has all but disappeared over the past five years. Many staff members followed former design chief Jony Ive to his studio, Love From, or to other companies.
Long-time interface designer Stephen Lemay replaces Dye. Mr. Cook will also take on additional design oversight responsibilities held by Mr. Williams.
Ive is a visionary designer who helped develop the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, and is currently working with OpenAI to develop a new generation of AI-enhanced devices. The company has set its sights on Apple territory, acquiring Mr. Ive's startup Io for more than $6 billion to revitalize its hardware business.
Like Meta, OpenAI has also been a key beneficiary of Apple's talent drain. The San Francisco-based company has hired dozens of Apple engineers across a wide range of fields, including those working on the iPhone, Mac, camera technology, silicon design, audio, watches and the Vision Pro headset.
In a previously unreported development, the AI company has hired Chen Chen, Apple's senior director of display technology. His range included optics that go into the Vision Pro headset. Two years ago, OpenAI hired Tan Tan, one of Apple's top hardware engineering executives.
Read more: Apple's star designer who introduced iPhone Air leaves the company
And over the summer, the company lost its Apple University dean, an internal program designed to maintain the company's culture and practices following the death of co-founder Steve Jobs. After nearly three years at Apple, Richard Locke is leaving to become dean of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's School of Business.
