Apple’s newly appointed head of Siri engineering, Mike Rockwell, is initiating significant changes within the management team responsible for the development of the voice assistant, promising employees that these adjustments will position the company for future success.
According to sources familiar with the situation, Rockwell is replacing much of Siri’s leadership with executives from his Vision Pro software team. This move includes restructuring teams that focus on areas such as speech recognition, understanding, performance, and overall user experience. These individuals, who chose to remain anonymous due to the confidential nature of the changes, provided insights into the shifts within the organization.
Last month, Rockwell was appointed to his new role during a management shake-up that redefined responsibilities among the leadership team, particularly affecting AI chief John Giannandrea and former Siri head Robby Walker. This restructuring followed a series of project delays and technical challenges that prompted Apple CEO Tim Cook to seek new leadership.
Fixing Siri has emerged as a major priority for Apple, which introduced the voice assistant over a decade ago in 2011. The technology has lagged behind competitors such as Google and OpenAI, highlighting Apple’s difficulties in navigating the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence.
One of Rockwell’s first actions was to bring on Ranjit Desai, a senior executive from the Vision Pro development team, to oversee a substantial portion of Siri’s engineering operations, including foundational platform and systems groups. Rockwell expressed confidence that Desai’s expertise in developing “high-performance, low-latency systems” would elevate Siri’s performance.
Additionally, Olivier Gutknecht, a senior executive from Vision Pro software, is set to lead the team responsible for Siri’s user experience. Rockwell has also enlisted veteran Apple software managers Nate Begeman and Tom Duffy to oversee the foundational architecture for Siri. Rockwell noted that this alignment will enable the development of “world-class” and “scalable” technology.
Begeman has experience with the operating system for Vision Pro, while Duffy has previously managed crucial components of iPhone software within the Core OS group. Both are recognized as top-tier software engineering talent with a track record of successfully launching complex projects at Apple.
Stuart Bowers, who has managed data, training, and evaluation teams, will take on an expanded role focusing on improving Siri’s capability to understand and respond to user queries. David Winarsky, another veteran in Siri leadership, will head a newly formed group that will oversee all voice and speech-related technologies.
This reshuffle indicates a significant change in Siri’s engineering management, as Rockwell appears to be replacing or demoting former managers while leaning on the expertise from the Vision Pro team to address persistent issues faced by the voice assistant.
Despite his new responsibilities with Siri, Rockwell continues to oversee the visionOS operating system, which powers both current and future Vision devices. The Vision hardware team remains aligned with the broader hardware engineering group, reporting to senior executive John Ternus.
A spokesperson for Apple, based in Cupertino, California, chose not to comment on the changes.
Apple is also transitioning the former visionOS software teams, associated with the executives moving to Siri, to Geoff Stahl, who has been a long-time deputy to Rockwell. Key visionOS managers, including apps chief Jeff Norris and software program management lead Haley Allen, will remain in their current roles.
Apple’s AI and machine learning team has faced scrutiny, with some employees humorously dubbing it “AI/MLess” due to ongoing management challenges, philosophical disagreements, and execution setbacks.
In June, Apple unveiled its Apple Intelligence platform, highlighting several planned upgrades for Siri, including enhanced capabilities to utilize personal data and analyze on-screen content for command completion. The company also introduced an upgraded version of App Intents, designed to better control actions and applications.
However, earlier this year, quality and engineering issues prompted Apple to delay the rollout of this technology from April to May. By March, the timeline for three new features was postponed indefinitely, a significant setback for the company. During an internal meeting, the previous head of Siri acknowledged that the system was functioning correctly less than two-thirds of the time, which led to feelings of embarrassment among the team.
Siri currently operates using two separate systems: one for basic commands, such as setting timers, and another based on large language model technology that handles more advanced tasks. The integration of both systems has proven challenging, leading to quality issues. In response, Apple is now working to revamp its architecture to employ a singular LLM-based system. This shift is expected to facilitate a more conversational interface, but it is anticipated that the update will take several years to fully implement.
In order to effectively launch the new App Intents feature—overseen by Gutknecht—Apple plans to collaborate closely with substantial third-party application developers, ensuring seamless integration of the technology with their software. The intention is for users to issue complex commands through a single voice instruction, such as requesting Siri to locate a photo, edit it, and send it via email or iMessage.
The management changes took effect early in the year, starting with the relocation of Kim Vorrath, a seasoned software engineering manager known for her ability to tackle challenging projects, to the Siri team. Vorrath had previously managed project oversight for the Vision Pro under Rockwell, solidifying her alignment with Rockwell’s new strategy for Siri.
Giannandrea retains his role as Apple’s head of artificial intelligence, reporting directly to Cook. His responsibilities include leading core AI initiatives, developing large language models, managing infrastructure teams, overseeing testing operations, and running a group dedicated to performance measurement of AI systems. Walker continues to report to Giannandrea and remains involved with Siri, albeit with fewer engineers following the restructuring.
Despite sales difficulties and initial bugs related to the Vision Pro, some employees and industry analysts have expressed skepticism about Rockwell’s new leadership role over Siri. Nevertheless, Rockwell has demonstrated a capacity to manage significant projects and secure high-level investments from leadership, having previously delivered a technologically robust operating system and product.
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