Apple hires Google executive to lead AI marketing as Siri overhaul approaches

Apple hires ex-Google executive to head AI marketing amid push to improve Siri

SAN FRANCISCO, March 27 (Reuters) - Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab on Friday said it has hired Lilian Rincon, who previously spent nearly a decade at Google overseeing its ⁠shopping and assistant products, as the vice president of product marketing for artificial intelligence, reporting to its marketing chief Greg "Joz" Joswiak. The ⁠hire comes as Apple is readying an improved version of Siri, ⁠its virtual assistant, for release this year, rebuilt ⁠with technology from Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Gemini AI ⁠model. Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Chris Reese Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Apple hires veteran Google VP to lead AI product marketing - 9to5Mac

Apple has hired Google VP Lilian Rincon as its new vice president of Product Marketing for AI, the company tells me. Apple says Rincon will lead protect marketing and product management for all of Apple's AI platforms, including Apple Intelligence and Siri, reporting directly to Greg Joswiak. Rincon spent nine years at Google, most recently serving as the company's vice president of product management. In that role, Rincon led Google's global product organization responsible for Google Shopping and Google Assistant. Prior to her time at Google, Rincon held roles at Microsoft and Skype. Apple's hiring of Rincon comes following the addition of Amar Subramanya in December, who serves as the company's VP of AI reporting to Craig Federighi. Subramanya spent 16 years at Google, including as an engineering VP working on Gemini. After his tenure at Google, Subramanya spent five months at Microsoft before joining Apple.

Apple Brings On Google Shopping VP to Lead AI Marketing Push

Apple has hired former Google VP Lilian Rincon as its vice president of product marketing for artificial intelligence, reports Axios. Before joining Apple, Rincon was vice president of product for Google Shopping. At Apple, Rincon will be in charge of product marketing and product management for all of Apple's AI platforms, reporting to Apple marketing chief Greg Joswiak. Rincon led the global product organization that handled Google's consumer-facing shopping experiences, and before that, she was a director of product management in the Google Shopping division, and she worked on Google Assistant. Rincon first joined Google in 2017, and she also previously worked at Microsoft and Skype. Apple's AI marketing efforts come at a critical time as it prepares to roll out the updated chatbot version of Siri in iOS 27, and Rincon has a lot of work ahead. Apple is seen as being far behind competitors when it comes to AI development, both because of its failure to deploy Apple Intelligence Siri features on time and because iOS, macOS, and iPadOS offer far fewer AI features compared to Android and Windows. With iOS 27, Apple is overhauling Siri. We'll get the smarter Siri Apple first introduced at the June 2024 WWDC keynote, plus Apple is planning for a full chatbot version of Siri that will compete with chatbots like Claude, Gemini, and ChatGPT. We'll see our first glimpse of the new AI features Apple has planned at the 2026 Worldwide Developers Conference, which begins on Monday, June 8.

Apple hires Google exec to lead AI marketing

Why it matters: Apple is racing to reset its AI strategy, with a revamped Siri central to competing against fast-moving rivals. Driving the news: Rincon will serve as VP of product marketing for AI, reporting to Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior VP of worldwide product marketing. * Rincon's most recent role at Google was VP of product for Google Shopping. Before that she held roles at Microsoft and Skype. The big picture: Apple has been seeking to reboot its AI strategy after early stumbles. Much of its near-term work centers around transforming Siri into a more powerful chatbot-style app. * A key part of that effort is a multiyear partnership with Google that gives Apple the ability to run Google's Gemini models from its own devices and servers. * The company is also set to allow Siri to connect to a broad range of AI apps -- not just ChatGPT -- Bloomberg reported on Thursday. Context: Rincon's hiring follows Amar Subramanya -- formerly of Microsoft and Google -- who joined as VP of AI late last year overseeing the company's work around AI research, models and safety. What we're watching: Apple is likely to say more about its AI plans and the Siri revamp at its WWDC event, which kicks off June 8.

Apple hires ex-Google executive to head AI marketing amid push to improve Siri - The Economic Times

The hire comes as Apple is readying an improved version of Siri, its virtual assistant, for release ⁠this year, rebuilt with technology from Alphabet's Gemini AI model.Apple on Friday said it has hired Lilian Rincon, who previously ⁠spent nearly ⁠a decade at Google overseeing its shopping and assistant products, as the vice president ⁠of product marketing for artificial intelligence, reporting ⁠to its marketing chief Greg "Joz" Joswiak. The hire comes as Apple is readying an improved version of Siri, its virtual assistant, for release ⁠this year, rebuilt with technology from Alphabet's Gemini AI model.

Apple Hires The Executive Behind Google's Shopping Experiences To Lead Its AI Marketing Efforts

In what is a testament to the seriousness of its oncoming, all-encompassing AI push, Apple has just staged a mini coup of sorts by poaching one of Google's star executives to lead its AI marketing efforts. Apple has hired Google's VP of product marketing, Lilian Rincon, to head product marketing and management for all of Apple's AI platforms. Of course, we'll likely get a first glimpse at Apple's overarching AI-related marketing plans at its upcoming WWDC 2026 in June. Do note that Apple's poaching of Rincon is currently being perceived as something of a coup, especially given the ex-Google exec's star credentials. Consider the fact that Rincon has worked on Google Assistant, and more recently, served as a director of product management in the Google Shopping division, managing to win plaudits in both of these positions. Of course, Apple is planning huge AI-related changes with the upcoming iOS 27, which appears all set to expand Siri's integration with a number of third-party AI agents, and is expected to culminate in the launch of a completely revamped chatbot Siri that will run on Google's own TPUs and cloud infrastructure, albeit under Apple's ownership. The iPhone manufacturer insists that the arrangement would not result in a change in Apple's stringent privacy-related safeguards. According to Gurman's previous tidbit, the Siri chatbot will be baked into Apple's software, allowing it to leverage personal data, perform in-app actions, search the web, generate content, including images, provide coding assistance, summarize and analyze information, as well as upload files. Apple is also designing a feature that will let the Siri chatbot view open windows and on-screen content, as well as adjust device features and settings. The chatbot Siri will reportedly leverage a much more advanced version of Google's Gemini model, known internally as Apple Foundation Models version 11. According to Gurman, "the model is expected to be competitive with Gemini 3 and significantly more capable" than the one supporting the revamped Siri. Additionally, Siri will no longer be accessible solely via voice commands. Instead, Apple is debuting a dedicated Siri app with iOS 27, which would serve as a central repository of all past conversations with the AI assistant. Also, while users can still activate Siri via voice commands or the power button, Apple is testing a new interface that resides within the Dynamic Island. Finally, Apple is attempting to replace its "Spotlight" search function with Siri, allowing for a unified search-related UI. The new search interface will continue to show "Siri Suggestions," which would span across apps, upcoming appointments, and changes to settings suggested by AI. About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, I've authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.

Apple Recruits Google Shopping Exec to Lead AI Marketing | PYMNTS.com

As Reuters reported Friday (March 27), Lilian Rincon, who had spent nine years with Google heading its shopping and assistant tools, will now serve as Apple's ⁠vice president of product marketing for AI. The report noted that Rincon's hiring is happening as Apple prepares to introduce an updated version of its Siri virtual assistant, reconstructed with Google AI tech. Apple and Google announced their partnership at the start of the year, saying the next version of Apple's Foundation Models will be based on Google's Gemini and cloud tech. These models will help run new features for Siri and other tools that use its Apple Intelligence AI system. Rincon, who has also worked for Skype and Microsoft, announced her departure from Google last week on her LinkedIn profile, which now lists her job title as "Vice President of Product for Apple AI": "From helping build Google Assistant from zero to one to reimagining the future of shopping in the age of AI, it has truly been one of the great privileges of my career." Apple last year named Amar Subramanya, a former Microsoft AI leader and longtime Google engineer who helped build the Gemini Assistant, to serve as vice president of AI. Meanwhile, Apple is reportedly planning to make other companies' AI assistants accessible from within Siri, letting users choose which service to query. This feature, dubbed "Extensions," will be part of the updated Siri that is due to be part of Apple's upcoming iOS 27 operating system, Bloomberg News reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. That report added that Apple already lets Siri tap into OpenAI's ChatGPT, exclusively. Under the new system, the iPhone would become a more powerful AI platform and give Apple additional revenue from third-party app subscriptions through its App Store, the report said. Per the report, the Extensions feature is not expected to impact Apple and Google's partnership. Also last week, Apple announced it would share its AI advancements at its yearly Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which the company will host online June 8-12. "WWDC26 will spotlight incredible updates for Apple platforms, including AI advancements and exciting new software and development tools," Apple said in a news release.

Apple hires ex-Google executive to head AI marketing amid push to improve Siri

SAN FRANCISCO, March 27 (Reuters) - Apple on Friday said it has hired Lilian Rincon, who previously spent nearly a decade at Google overseeing its shopping and assistant products, as the vice president of product marketing for artificial intelligence, reporting to its marketing chief Greg "Joz" Joswiak. The hire comes as Apple is readying an improved version of Siri, its virtual assistant, for release this year, rebuilt with technology from Alphabet's Gemini AI model. (Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Chris Reese)