Ex-Apple CEO: Company Faces First Real Rival in Decades
▼ Summary
– Apple’s former CEO John Sculley stated that AI is not one of Apple’s strengths and identified OpenAI as its first real competitor in decades.
– Apple has fallen behind in AI, with product delays like the Siri overhaul and fewer updates compared to rivals like OpenAI and Google.
– Sculley emphasized that Apple’s next CEO must guide the company’s transition from the apps era to the agentic AI era, where smart agents replace many apps.
– He highlighted that agentic AI will automate workflows for knowledge workers and shift tech companies toward subscription-based business models.
– Former Apple design chief Jony Ive joined OpenAI, with Sculley noting his potential to enhance OpenAI’s devices, given his history of designing iconic Apple products.
A former leader of Apple has voiced a significant concern, suggesting the tech behemoth now confronts its first genuine competitive threat in many years, specifically from the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence. John Sculley, who served as Apple’s CEO from 1983 to 1993, recently stated that AI has not been a core strength for Apple, positioning OpenAI as a formidable new rival. This perspective was shared during his appearance at the Zeta Live conference in New York City.
Observers note that Apple seems to have lost some ground in the artificial intelligence sector. Unlike competitors such as OpenAI, Google, Amazon, and Meta, Apple has not maintained a steady stream of AI product enhancements. The company also faced a notable delay in its plans to launch a major upgrade for Siri, its intelligent assistant, earlier this year.
Sculley brought a rich marketing background from his time at Pepsi-Cola, where he was instrumental in the famous “Pepsi Challenge” campaign, to his role at Apple. His tenure was marked by a famously strained relationship with company cofounder Steve Jobs, who eventually left Apple in 1985 before making a triumphant return over a decade later.
During his recent talk, Sculley also addressed rumors about the potential retirement of current Apple CEO Tim Cook. He emphasized that Cook’s eventual successor will face the critical task of steering the company through a major industry shift. Sculley described this as a move from the “apps era” to what he calls the “agentic era,” where sophisticated AI agents will handle complex tasks autonomously, reducing the need for numerous individual applications.
The concept of agentic AI, which involves systems that can act independently to complete complicated tasks, is poised to transform how knowledge workers operate by automating significant portions of their workflow. Sculley, who recently transitioned to vice chairman emeritus at the marketing technology firm Zeta Global, believes this evolution will accelerate the adoption of subscription-based models across the tech industry. He argues that while the app-centric model was about selling products, the future is about customers paying for ongoing services and access.
In a related development, OpenAI has strengthened its team by bringing on board Jony Ive, Apple’s former design chief, following the acquisition of his hardware startup for a sum exceeding six billion dollars. Ive, the creative force behind iconic products like the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad, expressed his intention to tackle some of the unintended consequences associated with modern smartphones and tablets. Sculley remarked that Ive’s unique design expertise is precisely what could help integrate a new dimension into large language models at OpenAI, especially through his collaboration with CEO Sam Altman.
(Source: Business Insider)
