Apple Appoints Former Google AI Leader Amar Subramanya as New Vice President of AI

Amar Subramanya, who previously led engineering for Google's Gemini Assistant, has been appointed as Apple's new vice president of AI, taking over from John Giannandrea, who will remain as an adviser until his retirement next spring.

Apple CEO Tim Cook expressed enthusiasm about the appointment, stating, "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."

The company highlighted Subramanya's qualifications in their announcement: "His deep expertise in both AI and ML research and in integrating that research into products and features will be important to Apple's ongoing innovation and future Apple Intelligence features."

Subramanya's educational background includes a degree in electrical, electronics, and communications engineering from Bangalore University in 2001. He began his career at IBM as a software engineer before pursuing a PhD at the University of Washington in 2005. During this time, he interned at Microsoft and later worked there as a visiting researcher.

Following his doctoral studies, Subramanya joined Google in Mountain View, California, as a staff research scientist. His 16-year tenure at Google saw him rise through the ranks, becoming a principal engineer and eventually VP of Engineering in 2019, where he led the development of Google's Gemini Assistant.

In July 2025, Subramanya briefly moved to Microsoft as Corporate Vice President of AI before accepting his new position at Apple. In his new role, he will report to Apple's software chief Craig Federighi, who oversees crucial areas including foundation models, machine-learning research, search and knowledge, and AI infrastructure.

Under Giannandrea's leadership, Apple faced criticism for falling behind competitors in the generative AI space. Companies like Samsung have implemented AI features into their smartphones more rapidly than Apple.

Earlier this year, Apple announced a delay until 2026 for significant artificial intelligence upgrades to its voice assistant Siri. Reports indicated that CEO Tim Cook had begun losing confidence in Giannandrea's ability to deliver next-generation AI products according to schedule.