TechNews: According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple's senior management team is currently composed of long-serving veterans, and as their tenure nears its end, the company's top executives are bound to experience a major reshuffle. While John Ternus may become the next CEO of Apple, the company still needs to find new leaders for its various important departments.
TechNews noted that Apple's executive team structure has remained tight over the past decade. Many of the top executives in the team are similar in age, not much different from the current CEO Tim Cook. This means that Apple's challenge is not only to find a successor to Cook, but also many other leaders may step down around the same time.
Apple's hardware engineering chief John Ternus has emerged as a potential long-term successor to Cook. Ternus, who is not yet 50, still has plenty of room to grow in his career. If Cook resigns in the near future, Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams is also a possible candidate to succeed him.
Aside from the CEO, deputies in charge of engineering, marketing, services, finance, and other functions are equally important to Apple's success, if not more so.
The article goes on to discuss potential successors for each key department:
Operations: Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams has been in office since 2015, and his likely successor is his right-hand man, Senior Vice President Sabih Khan. If Khan is promoted, Priya Balasubramaniam would almost certainly become Apple's next Senior Vice President of Operations, and possibly the Chief Operating Officer in the future.
Finance: CFO Luca Maestri has been leading Apple's financial functions since 2014, and his likely successor is CFO Office Vice President Kevan Parekh. Maestri has been grooming Parekh to succeed him, and recent changes in responsibilities indicate Parekh's increasing importance within the company.
Legal Counsel: Kate Adams, one of Apple's longest-serving General Counsels, has potential successors including Kyle Andeer and BJ Watrous.
Software Engineering: Craig Federighi has been Apple's top software executive since 2012, and his potential successors are Sebastien Marineau and Jon Andrews.
Hardware Engineering: John Ternus's potential successors include Mike Rockwell, Kate Bergeron, and Eugene Kim.
Hardware Technologies: Sri Santhanam is considered a potential successor to Johny Srouji.
Marketing: Bob Borchers is believed to be the most likely successor to Greg Joswiak.
Artificial Intelligence: There is currently no clear succession plan for John Giannandrea's AI team.
Retail: Vanessa Trigub may serve as an interim successor to Deirdre O'Brien in Apple's retail business.
Services: Oliver Schusser and Jeff Robbin may take over various aspects of Eddy Cue's responsibilities if he steps down.
App Store and Apple Events: Phil Schiller's successor in managing the App Store remains uncertain.
Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives: Lisa Jackson's successors in environmental and government affairs are yet to be determined.