Apple has made a major addition to its senior leadership by appointing seasoned artificial intelligence expert Amar Subramanya as its new vice president of AI. The move reflects how determined the company is to expand its influence in the rapidly evolving AI ecosystem and deepen its investment in cutting-edge machine learning technologies.
Subramanya, 46, is widely respected in the AI community for his deep technical expertise and years of experience leading large engineering teams. Originally from Bengaluru, he completed his undergraduate degree in electronics and communications engineering before relocating to the United States to pursue further studies. He later earned a PhD in computer science from the University of Washington, where his research centered on semi-supervised learning and graphical models. During his academic tenure, he received the prestigious Microsoft Research Graduate Fellowship and coauthored a well-regarded book on graph-based learning methods, contributing to advancements across natural language processing and speech systems.
Apple confirmed his appointment on December 1, explaining that Subramanya will work closely with Craig Federighi and oversee several of Apple’s most sensitive AI initiatives. His portfolio will include foundation model development, machine learning research, and safety evaluation frameworks—areas that will heavily influence the direction of Apple Intelligence and future AI-powered products. Company leaders say his expertise will play a central role in shaping on-device intelligence as well as cloud-supported features designed for upcoming generations of Apple hardware.
CEO Tim Cook welcomed Subramanya, emphasizing that AI has been integral to Apple’s product vision for years. Cook said that Subramanya’s ability to blend innovative research with practical product delivery arrives at a pivotal moment for the company’s long-term strategy.
Prior to joining Apple, Subramanya briefly served as corporate vice president of AI at Microsoft, where he contributed to the development of the foundation models used in Microsoft Copilot. His transition follows a long tenure at Google, where he spent 16 years and rose to become the engineering head of Gemini, Google’s flagship generative AI assistant.
Across both tech giants, he became known for turning advanced research into real-world applications—a skill analysts believe Apple will rely on heavily as global competition in AI intensifies. His appointment signals Apple’s intent to secure a stronger foothold in the next wave of intelligent technologies.
