Apple hits its Game of Thrones era

Where Apple is today, silicon has replaced design as the key differentiator on which the company’s success is built. Apple Silicon, the self-designed chips inside all its devices, give the company a core story around performance and energy consumption that means its products stand above much of the competition. 

Now Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior VP hardware technologies and the man who led development of Apple Silicon, has reportedly told Apple CEO Tim Cook that he intends to stand down. While I’m sure there’s a team of people ready to take his place, the timing — following a week of significant leadership changes — creates the impression of a crisis at the top of the company.

What has happened?

Bloomberg reports that Israeli executive Srouji is “seriously” considering leaving the company and has told Cook as much. 

He also reportedly told colleagues that if he does quit Cupertino, he plans to join another company. This matters, as Srouji was at one time discussed as a future CEO for Intel, a role he reportedly rejected to stay with Apple. Srouji has also reportedly said he would prefer not to work “under a different CEO,” raising the question of whether he aspires to succeed Cook.

What can Apple do? So far, the company has offered Srouji more pay and more responsibility, including the possibility of promotion to a new role as Chief Technology Officer, which would make him Apple’s second most powerful executive. 

What could be happening?

The top table tumbles at Apple really began after speculative reports appeared to the effect that Apple CEO, Tim Cook, was considering retirement. Subsequent reporting suggests those plans aren’t immediate but are being considered, and that Cook may raise his replacement initially in a co-CEO role.

Reports of Cook’s departure means the company must put together an effective succession plan, with John Ternus, SVP Hardware Engineering, currently in the frame for Cook’s seat.

The snag is that whispers from inside the company suggest other leaders don’t think he’s ready for the role, while critics point out that he lacks the political and diplomatic experience now required from a head of Apple. 

True or false, those criticisms hint at a possible succession struggle at the top of Apple — while the recent loss of many other executives exposes weakness in the top team.

Succession struggles?

Even if that is not the case, some of Apple’s leaders may choose to depart before Cook leaves, with his departure hastening that decision, particularly for those who would not choose to serve alongside whoever is on the Super-Secret Top List of potential replacements. 

Apple is said to be focused on hires from inside the company, but there will be external candidates who could bring what is required to the role. Former Jamf CEO Dean Hager has a good combination of tech insight and storytelling ability, and I’m sure there are other leaders who may have deep backgrounds in the Apple ecosystem to think about.

There should also be more talent beneath the visibility line at the company, given its size. That means that each departing senior leader should, by rights, already have developed a pool of potential replacements, as that’s what good management entails. Look at almost any recruitment and development self-help guide and you’ll see that training your replacement is critical to good management practice.

However, Apple’s highly secretive nature has at times created the conditions for the development of fiefdoms and silos within the company, an internal culture that may dent the capacity to develop talent pathways. We saw this before at Apple prior to the return of Steve Jobs — though perhaps Apple University has helped change that a little. 

Team spirit

The risk I see is that Apple’s senior executives may have been unable to dedicate the time and focus required to nurture replacements for their roles. This may not be the case, but it is telling that in the case of Lisa Jackson, her department has been split between two existing leaders rather than promoting an existing staff member. This could hint at a vacuum at the top and could also suggest that internal squabbles concerning succession may be causing important people such as Srouji to consider leaving. It is also of concern that retail chief Dierdre O’Brien and marketing SVP Greg Joswiak may also be on the cusp of retirement, according to Bloomberg.

Whatever next?

Leadership is hard. At Apple, it takes a huge collection of skills. Add all the political and social responsibility that goes with running a huge multinational company to the standard management stack, and it is probably one of the toughest gigs in the industry. The challenge is that no matter how hard the task may have become, Apple’s remaining leaders must now dig deep to ensure they meet an array of challenges, including:

Maintaining Apple’s brand story.

Identifying convincing replacements for every role, now and in the future.

Avoiding getting bogged down in turf wars or internal politics.

All while getting ahead once again in AI.

Failure in any of these tasks threatens existential damage to the company — as does any loss of leadership around Apple Silicon, which has become Apple’s brightest star at this point of its journey. However, if changing leadership on the Apple Silicon team helps prevent future succession conflicts, it may be a necessary step. There should already be equally capable talent within that team.

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