Apple’s executive shakeup continues. Days after announcing the departure of AI chief John Giannandrea and the loss of executive design executive Alan Dye from Meta, the iPhone maker has shared news of two more executive departures.
Kate Adams, who has served as Apple’s general counsel since 2017, will retire at the end of next year, while Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of environment, policy and social initiatives, will retire at the end of January 2026.
The company also announced the hiring of Jennifer Newstead, who will become its general counsel on March 1, 2026, reporting to CEO Tim Cook, following a transition of duties from Adams.
Newstead joins from Meta, where she was chief legal officer. Prior to that, he served as legal counsel to the US Department of State, where he led the team that advises the secretary of state on legal issues affecting the conduct of US foreign relations.
She also held other government positions in the past, including general counsel of the White House Office of Management and Budget, principal deputy assistant attorney general of the Office of Legal Policy at the Department of Justice, associate White House counsel, and law clerk to Justice Stephen Breyer of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Newstead will oversee both the legal and government affairs organizations, Cook noted.
“We couldn’t be happier to have Jennifer join our team,” he said. “He brings an extraordinary depth of experience and skill to the role and will advance Apple’s important work around the world.”
During Adams’ time at Apple, the company faced increased antitrust regulation and lawsuits, largely focused on growing competition in the app market.
Meanwhile, Jackson, who was previously appointed to the EPA before joining Apple in 2013, has been involved in Apple’s climate initiatives, sustainability efforts, environmental impact and DEI-focused efforts such as the Racial Equity and Justice Initiative. Such efforts have fallen out of favor with corporate giants under the Trump administration.
“I deeply appreciate Lisa’s contribution. She has been instrumental in helping us reduce global greenhouse emissions by more than 60 percent compared to 2015 levels,” Cook said in a statement. “It has also been a critical strategic partner in engaging governments around the world, advocating for the best interests of our users on a myriad of issues, as well as advancing our values, from education and accessibility to privacy and security.”
Apple has seen a number of leadership changes in recent months, having also announced the departure of chief operating officer Jeff Williams in July, with duties shifting to Sabih Khan, who previously served as senior vice president of operations. Prior to Giannandrea’s departure, Apple had replaced him as head of the Siri team with Mike Rockwell, who was vice president of the Vision Products Group.
The company also lost Ke Yang, the executive leading Apple’s work on AI-powered web search, to Meta. and saw the departure of Ruoming Pang, Apple’s former head of AI models, who left for Meta earlier this year.
Leadership is changing as Apple has fallen behind in the AI race, stalling the launch of an AI-powered Siri that will now run Google models under the hood. Apple has also been criticized by designers for losing the attention to detail that the company has long been known for. This reportedly led to some celebrations of Dye’s departure among Apple employees, per a report from Daring Fireballwho are happy to have a career interface and interaction designer, Stephen Lemay, take on the role.
