Tim Cook Leads Apple in the Age of Algorithms

John Ternus has become the new chief executive of Apple, the tech giant that dominates the smartphone market but lags behind its rivals in artificial intelligence. This move ends Tim Cook’s 15-year tenure, with the engineer who oversaw the development of Apple’s devices taking over as successor to the operations expert who built the company’s supply chain. Ternus holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and worked as an engineer at Virtual Systems Research before joining Apple. The 51-year-old joined Apple’s design team in 2001, rising through the ranks to become Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, reporting directly to Cook. Ternus leads the engineering teams responsible for all of Apple’s products, including the iPhone line, which generates the majority of the company’s revenue. Within the company, he is credited with driving efforts to make its products more durable, reliable, and resilient, as well as contributing to design initiatives that helped reduce Apple’s carbon footprint. Apple will hold its annual iPhone event on September 9, where it is expected to unveil its first foldable phone. Dan Ives, partner and first managing director at investment firm Wedbush Securities, said, “Tim Cook left the company in an excellent position.” He added, “But now, the task of shaping the future of artificial intelligence falls on Ternus.”