Apple has placed Amar Subramanya in a leading position as vice president of AI after John Giannandrea decided he will retire in spring 2026. Apple announced that Giannandrea will stay on as an adviser until he leaves. The company said Subramanya will report to Craig Federighi and will guide work on Apple Foundation Models, machine learning research and AI safety and evaluation.
Tim Cook welcomed the arrival of Subramanya and said, “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.” Apple added that this change marks a new chapter as it pushes its AI plans forward.
Apple explained that Giannandrea shaped its AI and machine learning direction since he joined in 2018. His team created key technologies behind Apple Foundation Models, search tools and wider machine learning systems. Apple said his remaining teams will shift to Sabih Khan and Eddy Cue so operations can sit nearer to related groups.
Who is Amar Subramanya And What Experience Does It Bring?
Subramanya arrives with more than twenty years of experience in building and managing AI systems. He recently held the post of corporate vice president of AI at Microsoft where he worked on foundation models used in Microsoft Copilot. Apple pointed to his background as a strong match for what it wants to build next.
Before that, he spent sixteen years at Google and rose to vice president of engineering. He later headed engineering for Gemini, Google’s main generative AI system. His work touched advanced model training and deployment in partnership with DeepMind.
His education began at Bangalore University where he studied electronics and communications engineering and graduated in 2001. He later earned a PhD in computer science at the University of Washington in 2009, focusing on semi supervised learning and graphical models. During his PhD years he received a Microsoft Research Graduate Fellowship and co wrote the book “Graph Based Semi Supervised Learning.”
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His early working life involved time at IBM and an internship at Microsoft before his long period at Google. Fortune reported that his research extended across natural language processing, entity resolution and speech technologies. Apple described his mix of research experience and product integration work as important for its next wave of AI development.
What Does This Change Mean For Apple’s Overall Plans?
Apple faces pressure as rivals move fast in generative AI and conversational assistants. Google and Microsoft introduced stronger copilots and more capable assistants across their services. Siri began as an early leader but struggled to keep pace. Fortune reported that Apple took a slower route, choosing on device processing and strong privacy guarantees while bringing out Apple Intelligence features over time.
Apple sees Subramanya’s arrival as a moment to add speed and fresh thinking to its systems without losing its privacy stance. The company said his experience will guide the next generation of Apple Intelligence features. Tim Cook said Giannandrea helped Apple “continue to innovate and enrich the lives of our users,” and praised Federighi for leading progress toward a more personalised Siri next year.
Apple’s formal statement said these changes will help it push what is possible in AI. It described Federighi’s expanded oversight and Subramanya’s guidance as a combination that puts the company in a stronger place for the next wave of intelligent and trusted experiences.
Why Does Apple Think This Is A New Chapter?
Apple said this moment strengthens its commitment to shaping the next stage of AI for users everywhere. It views Giannandrea’s past work as a base, while Federighi takes on a wider range of AI decisions. Subramanya now steps into one of Apple’s most influential technical positions as it builds Apple Foundation Models and prepares features tied to Apple Intelligence.
The company believes these shifts will speed up progress. It sees Subramanya’s strong record at Google and Microsoft as an advantage as it tries to match or outpace its rivals. Apple’s comments show that it wants its products to feel more intelligent and personal in the coming years.
