Apple’s next CEO John Ternus faces defining AI moment

Apple Inc.'s John Ternus introduces the new MacBook Pro during an online event unveiling new products at Apple Park in Cupertino, California on Oct. 18, 2021. Apple's Tim Cook will step down as the California tech giant's chief executive this year, handing the top job to company veteran John Ternus as it navigates a technology landscape being upended by artificial intelligence. Photo by Handout/Apple Inc./AFP via Getty Images files

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John Ternus will take over as Apple Inc.‘s chief executive in September at a moment of unusual strain for the Silicon Valley giant, as it battles doubts over its position in artificial intelligence and confronts a more fragile global supply chain.

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The 50-year-old hardware engineer, a 25-year veteran of the iPhone-maker, has quietly attached his name to some of Apple’s biggest bets over the past decade.

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But for investors and employees, the transition will test whether Apple’s business — built on hardware prowess and operational discipline — can adapt to an industry being reshaped by generative AI.

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The company has been slower than rivals to roll out breakthrough AI features, raising questions about whether its next chief executive must redefine rather than extend the strategy that made it a US$4-trillion giant.

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“The question is whether he has the appetite for the kind of bold, occasionally uncomfortable decisions that defining a new platform requires,” wrote the IDC’s Francisco Jeronimo. “Building an AI platform that developers and enterprises genuinely adopt is a different challenge.”

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Colleagues describe a quiet, unassuming figure who has built a reputation for competence as his responsibilities have grown.

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“He’s kind of a dad . . . just a nice guy,” said one former Apple executive. “He’s interestingly enough one of the ‘old guard,’ but at the same time still quite young.”

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Under Ternus’s oversight as hardware chief, Apple has experimented with new devices to expand beyond the iPhone, while pushing out models that depart from its typical annual cycle.

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He has been the face of those changes, including Apple’s “skinny” iPhone Air, launched late last year, and the MacBook Neo, Apple’s entry into the affordable laptop space, which was unveiled last month.

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Not all of these have been resounding successes. The iPhone Air, which marked the biggest design shake-up for the iPhone in years, proved a relative commercial flop. The Vision Pro headset, which Ternus also oversaw, reported disappointing sales.

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But one former colleague said Ternus’s technical skills would allow him to distinguish himself from his two predecessors, “from Steve Jobs’ focus on product storytelling and marketing, to Tim Cook‘s operational excellence . . . and now a leadership bench that is deeply rooted in engineering.”

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Cook has long said that his successor should come from within the company. His closest lieutenant, Jeff Williams, left Apple in November and later joined Disney’s board, removing him from the running.

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Ternus then beat other top Apple executives who are more recognizable, including software head Craig Federighi and marketing chief Greg ‘Joz’ Joswiak.