New Delhi: Apple has appointed Amar Subramanya as its new vice president of AI, signalling a targeted shift in the company’s AI leadership as it prepares for upcoming product updates driven by in-house foundation models.
Subramanya replaces John Giannandrea, who will retire in spring 2026 after steering Apple’s machine learning and AI strategy since 2018. Giannandrea will remain an advisor during the transition, ensuring continuity as Apple reassigns parts of his organisation to operations chief Sabih Khan and services head Eddy Cue. The restructuring brings AI development closer to product operations, reflecting Apple’s intent to build tighter links between research teams and service-led functions.
He will report to Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering, and will oversee core areas including Apple Foundation Models, machine learning research, and AI safety and evaluation. His appointment comes at a time when Apple is preparing broader updates to its AI ecosystem, including a more personalised version of Siri expected next year.
Giannandrea’s tenure shaped Apple’s internal AI architecture, from foundational model development to search and knowledge systems. The teams he built form the basis of Apple’s next wave of AI enhancements aimed at strengthening on-device intelligence and privacy-focused features.
He brings experience from leading AI programmes at Microsoft and Google, including engineering work on the Gemini Assistant. Apple noted that his background in machine learning research and consumer-facing AI integration aligns with its direction as it advances Apple Intelligence across devices.
The leadership change indicates Apple’s focus on consolidating AI efforts and aligning them with long-term product goals, rather than presenting it as a standalone initiative.
