AI guru John Giannandrea named to Apple’s executive team

Apple today announced that John Giannandrea has been named to the company’s executive team as senior vice president of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Strategy. He joined Apple in April 2018.

Giannandrea oversees the strategy for AI and Machine Learning across all Apple products and services, as well as the development of Core ML and Siri technologies. His team’s focus on advancing and tightly integrating machine learning into Apple products is delivering more personal, intelligent and natural interactions for customers while protecting user privacy.

“John hit the ground running at Apple and we are thrilled to have him as part of our executive team,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, in a statement. “Machine learning and AI are important to Apple’s future as they are fundamentally changing the way people interact with technology, and already helping our customers live better lives. We’re fortunate to have John, a leader in the AI industry, driving our efforts in this critical area.”
Giannandrea’s team is also helping to enhance the developer experience with tools including Core ML and Create ML, making it easier and faster to integrate machine learning into apps.

Source: Apple Inc.

MacDailyNews Take: The only surprise is that it took this long.

John Giannandrea’s bio page is up on Apple.com’s Leadership section and reads:

John Giannandrea is Apple’s Senior Vice President of Machine Learning and AI Strategy, reporting to CEO Tim Cook. John joined Apple in 2018 and oversees the strategy for artificial intelligence and machine learning across the company and development of Core ML and Siri technologies.

Prior to Apple, John spent 8 years at Google where he led the Machine Intelligence, Research, and Search teams. Before this he co-founded two technology companies, Tellme Networks and Metaweb Technologies. Earlier in his career John was a Senior Engineer at General Magic.

John graduated from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland where he earned a Bachelor of Science with Honors in Computer Science, and was awarded a Doctorate Honoris Causa. John is on the board of trustees at the SETI Institute and Castilleja School.

SEE ALSO:
Former Apple employees on Eddy Cue: Siri and Eddy were ‘a bad fit’ – September 5, 2018
Apple’s Siri improved by 11 percentage points in correct answers over the last 15 months – July 25, 2018
Apple combines machine learning and Siri teams under John Giannandrea – July 10, 2018
Apple’s ‘personal assistant activation’ patent application hints at improved Siri – May 10, 2018
iOS 11.4 will allow Siri to recognize AirPlay commands – May 3, 2018
iPhone X owners are extremely satisfied with basically everything except Siri – April 20, 2018
Apple’s Siri, HomePod and the voice assistant showdown – April 6, 2018
Apple’s A.I. efforts get shot of adrenaline with Giannandrea coup – April 6, 2018
A.I. defector gives Apple access to Google’s secrets – April 6, 2018
Gene Munster: Poaching AI chief John Giannandrea from Google a win for Apple – April 5, 2018
Apple hires Google’s A.I. chief to improve Siri – April 4, 2018
With IBM Watson Services for Core ML, Apple and IBM add machine learning muscle to enterprise iOS pact – March 20, 2018

2 Comments

  1. “The only surprise is that it took this long.”

    Maybe Apple wanted to wait and see if he would make a good fit into the Apple corporate culture. Going by this announcement, he obviously does.

    1. You beat me to it. Management, team dynamics and work ethic are all alien concepts here at alt_MDN_Entitlement central, having been replaced by derision, shoutfests and pond life self-loathing.

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