While John Ternus could be next CEO of Apple, the company will also need to find new leaders for its top divisions. Apple Inc.’s executive leadership team is a tight-knit ensemble that has barely seen a shake-up or change for more than a decade. And many of the people in the group, known internally as the ET, are about the same age within a few years of CEO, Tim Cook.

Apple CEO succession plan

Apple faces a broader succession challenge than just finding a replacement for CEO Cook. Many of its top leaders could step down around the same time. Apple will also need to identify new leaders for its critic divisions, including engineering, marketing, services, finance, amongst other department.

As reported earlier Apple hardware engineering chief John Ternus has emerged as a likely long-term successor to Coo

Beyond the CEO, the lieutenants in charge of engineering, marketing, services, finance and other functions are arguably just as critical to Apple’s success if not more.

Apple leadership transition

The key players who could potentially be the next leaders of Apple in all departments including operations, finance, general counseling, AI, engineering, marketing, retail, services etc.

Changes in operations

Operations has probably the most potential successors in the company. Jeff Williams has been COO since 2015 and his likely replacement is his top deputy, Senior Vice President Sabih Khan. Khan is in Apple’s executive team giving him an inside track. If Khan is promoted, Priya Balasubramaniam is a near-lock to be Apple’s next senior vice president of operations.

Finance department

Finance has been in the reign of Luca Maestri since 2014. Maestri joined Apple in 2013 as corporate controller. There’s been no equivalent outside hire in the CFO’s office yet. Maestri has been grooming finance Vice President Kevan Parekh to eventually take over. While not a well-known name, Parekh is an instrumental executive at Apple who often reports directly to Cook on important financial and sales matters. In a sign of his increased importance, he recently assumed the responsibilities and office of Saori Casey, the senior Apple finance executive who is now the CFO of Sonos Inc.

General Counsel

Kate Adams joined Apple in 2017, and she’s already one of the company’s longest-serving general counsels in its history. It’s also the rare high-ranking role at Apple that is usually filled from outside the company. But Adams has deputies, including Kyle Andeer and BJ Watrous that could probably hold the position.

Software and hardware engineering

Craig Federighi has been Apple’s top software executive since 2012. It doesn’t appear that Federighi is going anywhere soon, but most people at Apple believe his eventual successor is probably Sebastien Marineau. That executive currently oversees a number of iOS functions, including widgets, the home screen and privacy. Though there are many who believe Jon Andrews, who runs some of Apple’s underlying software technologies, could be better for the position.

The hardware engineering team will need a new leader if Ternus does indeed replace Cook as CEO. The executive has several key lieutenants, including Kate Bergeron, Deniz Teoman and Eugene Kim. Of Ternus’ current direct reports, most people believe Kim and Bergeron are the likeliest options. But many believe Mike Rockwell, a respected engineer who just launched the Vision Pro could be a better fit.

Hardware technologies organization

Johny Srouji, who runs his hardware technologies organization with authority and commands more respect than many executives is the best. But when he does step away most people within his organization believe that Sri Santhanam is due to eventually take over. Santhanam is responsible for the main chips that go into all of Apple’s devices, including the iPhone and Mac.

Marketing for Apple

Greg Joswiak has been running this group since 2020. Bob Borchers, his deputy oversees marketing for all of Apple’s products. If Joswiak were to depart in the foreseeable future, Borchers would step up. He helped run iPhone marketing before leaving Apple, returning in 2019 and, according to all accounts, he has all the powers needed by Apple’s chief marketing head.

Retail chain head

Deirdre O’Brien has run Apple’s retail operations since 2019 and that job has become her only responsibility. Ron Johnson was the pioneer of Apple’s retail chain, and his departure in 2011 was a blow. Apple doesn’t have any obvious successors to O’Brien, which means it might go for an outsider yet again when she leaves. O’Brien has been at Apple for more than three decades, even longer than Cook. A deputy like Vanessa Trigub could probably at least run the group on an interim basis.

Entertainment and services

Entertainment and service has been the realm of Eddy Cue, who oversees humungous properties. It includes the TV+ streaming platform, Music, Maps, the Apple Card, iCloud, Fitness+, applications like Final Cut Pro, search ads and Apple Pay. Along with engineering, interface design and marketing organizations. There’s no single person at Apple who could or should replace the uniquely suited Cue as the senior vice president in charge of all of those areas. Apple could look to split Cue’s role into entertainment and services with Oliver Schusser gaining oversight over the first part, and Jeff Robbin adding applications, iCloud and Maps to his current job handling engineering.

App Store and Apple Events

When Philip Schiller departs, there is no obvious successor in place to take over that group and nobody within Apple has his cross-functional ability, stature or knowledge of the operation. One person called him virtually irreplaceable. Though with the regulators trying to break up the App Store, he seems content to stay and fight.

Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives

Lisa Jackson, who has held this role for over a decade, isn’t someone who can be easily replaced. As a former government official and ex-Environment Protection Agency head, Jackson is well-qualified to run the combined environment, policy and social initiative division. People with that resume are hard to find, so it’s likely Apple will break up Jackson’s role and split it across at least a couple of people. When Jackson retires, look for Sarah Chandler, vice president of environment and supply chain innovation, to lead the ecological efforts. As for government affairs, look for a senior hire out of Washington, such as a former presidential cabinet member.

Designer departures at Apple

When Jony Ive left Apple in 2019, people expected to see some attrition from its design ranks but not the loss of the entire team. Essentially all of Apple’s main industrial designers have now departed. The latest departure is Duncan Kerr, who joined Apple in 1999 and was one of its most senior remaining designers. Apple does have some new designers on the team, but they are not too thrilled about reporting to Apple’s operations chief versus a designer.

There could be more departures in the near future, especially from the software design group under Alan Dye. More broadly, the future of the industrial design team isn’t clear.

One has to wonder if the current organizational structure will work in the long term. Perhaps Apple needs to recruit a new design leader someone who can truly chart a post-Ive era. If it can’t, perhaps the company should look for an outside design firm to help out.

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