With the recent CEO succession madness at OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT now seemingly behind us, it’s interesting to see Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, talk about his succession plans with a most unlikely person: English and Albania singer and songwriter, Dua Lipa, on her BBC Podcast titled “At Your Service”.
During the 45 minute podcast, Apple CEO Tim Cook made a rare podcast appearance, and during the discussion, he dived into the profound impact of artificial intelligence, the ever-evolving tech landscape and Apple’s response to climate change. As the podcast description states, you’ll hear Dua discovering Tim Cook’s personal journey, from his life growing up to his philanthropic endeavours, as well as his perspective on tackling global challenges.
Both also explore the intersection between creativity, leadership and innovation, and whether you’re a tech enthusiast, aspiring leader, or curious about the influence of technology on society, this episode offers a unique glimpse behind the scenes of running the world’s largest and most valuable company, and I’ve embedded the video the discussion, which is the same audio as the podcast, into my website.
In answer to a question from Lipa about Apple’s succession plans, Cook says he “really wantd the person to come from within Apple”, and while there was no specific person name, he was grooming “several people” for the board to choose from when the time came, but that if something happened to Cook, there was a plan in place.
Cook said: “We’re a company that believes in working on succession plans, so we have very detailed succession plans. Because something that’s unpredictable can always happen. I can step off the wrong curb tomorrow, and hopefully that doesn’t happen. I pray that it doesn’t.”
Cook added that he can’t “envision his life” without Apple and loves being there, and doesn’t expect to stand down anytime soon. He starts at 3.45am each day, and during his time at Apple has seen the launch of the Apple Watch, the Apple AirPods range, the upcoming launch of the Apple Vision Pro headset, has overseen over a dozen new iPhone models, and helmed the company’s growth to an over $3 trillion dollar valuation.
