Apple has named John Giannandrea to the company’s executive team as senior vice president of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Strategy, reporting to the company CEO Tim Cook.

Tim Cook, CEO, Apple: Machine learning and AI are important to Apple’s future as they are fundamentally changing the way people interact with technology, and already helping our customers live better lives.

Mr. Giannandrea oversees the strategy for AI and Machine Learning across all Apple products and services, as well as the development of Core ML and Siri technologies, said Apple in a statement. His team’s focus on advancing and tightly integrating machine learning into Apple products is delivering more personal, intelligent and natural interactions for customers while protecting user privacy.

Mr. Giannandrea’s team is also helping to enhance the developer experience with tools including Core ML and Create ML, to integrate machine learning into apps, says Apple.

Mr. Giannandrea joined Apple in April 2018, from Google; where he led the Machine Intelligence, Research, and Search teams. Before this he co-founded two technology companies, Tellme Networks and Metaweb Technologies. Earlier in his career Mr. Giannandrea was a senior enineer at General Magic.

Mr. Giannandrea is also on the board of trustees at the SETI Institute and Castilleja School.

[Image courtesy: Apple]