Bengaluru’s Amar Subramanya Takes Charge of Apple’s Global AI Strategy

In an attempt to keep up with the rapidly changing field of artificial intelligence (AI), Apple has named Amar Subramanya, a Bengaluru-born AI researcher and engineer with extensive experience at Google and Microsoft, as its new vice-president of AI. Subramanya will oversee Apple's AI operations, including foundation models, machine learning research, and AI safety and evaluation, and will answer to Craig Federighi, senior vice-president of software engineering.

The hiring comes as Apple's senior vice-president for AI strategy and machine learning, John Giannandrea, is getting ready to retire in the spring of 2026 and go into an advisory position. To better fit with Apple's overarching plan, other parts of Giannandrea's company will be transferred to Sabih Khan and Eddy Cue.

Apple Trying to Catch Up in the Global AI Race

As competitors advance with large-scale models and consumer-facing AI advancements, Apple's decision is commonly interpreted as an attempt to hasten its AI aspirations. According to a statement from the company, Apple is reaffirming its dedication to influencing the direction of artificial intelligence for people worldwide, marking an exciting new chapter in its history. Apple CEO Tim Cook emphasised the point.

Apple is happy to welcome Amar to Craig's leadership team and to bring his exceptional AI knowledge to Apple, Cook said, adding that AI has long been a key component of Apple's strategy. Federighi has already led efforts to provide a more customised Siri experience in the upcoming year, he continued.

Subramanya Brings Deep Expertise on Apple's Table

Subramanya has a strong background in artificial intelligence. After a brief but noteworthy tenure at Microsoft as corporate vice-president of AI, he joined Apple. Before that, he worked at Google for sixteen years, reaching the position of vice-president of engineering and overseeing the development of Gemini Assistant while in a top position at DeepMind.

The business stated that Subramanya's profound knowledge of AI and ML research and how to incorporate that knowledge into products will be essential to Apple's continued innovation. Subramanya received his PhD from the University of Washington after graduating from Bengaluru University with a degree in electrical, electronics, and communications engineering. Prior to starting as an intern at Microsoft in 2005, he had a brief stint at IBM.

He started off as a staff research scientist at Google in 2009 and eventually rose to the position of engineering lead for Gemini and contributed to DeepMind's AI research. Subramanya's quick transfer from Microsoft to Apple highlights the growing competition for AI expertise among the biggest tech companies in the world, where top researchers are routinely paid more than $10 million a year.