The latest tremors came when Apple announced chief operating officer Jeff Williams would retire by yearend after 27 years. Just a day before, the company’s top AI executive, Ruoming Pang, had left to join Meta, and weeks earlier, another high-level AI researcher, Tom Gunter, had also left. The image of a leadership exodus was forming.

Operations king Jeff Williams abdicates – just don't give him a watch Apple Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams is stepping down from his role next month and leaving the company later this year to spend more time with friends and family.