Tim Cook Pivots to Play Active Role in Shaping Apple Narrative

Apple CEO Tim Cook has made a major pivot in managing the affairs of Apple. We’ve seen for a while that Apple is more open, and how journalists were being given more access to its executives. But it occurred to me this week that Mr. Cook must have made a conscious decision to go a step further and play an active role in shaping the Apple narrative.

Back in the Day

Once upon a time, Apple was a secretive stronghold. Not only in terms of product secrecy, either. Apple executives were rarely heard from outside of keynote product launches. If journalists wanted to talk to Apple, they needed to make their case to Katie Cotton, head of PR and one of Steve Jobs’s top executives.

If those journalists were lucky, they’d get an interview with CEO Steve Jobs. And they’d have to promise things like cover shots with Mr. Jobs and an Apple product to get it. It was all part of the Steve Jobs master plan.

Changing of the Guard

Such strategies are closely tied to the individuals managing them, though. The perfect formula for Steve Jobs wouldn’t be the perfect formula for anyone else. Which is why Tim Cook started loosening things up at Apple after Steve Jobs passed away.

New people, new times, and new circumstances, all led to new strategies. We first started seeing signs of a more open Apple when the company directly responded to more and more issues. More statements, open acknowledgment of (some) customer complaints, answers to questions about Apple practices, and more transparency reports were all indicators of a sea change in Apple’s secrecy.

In 2015 Apple escalated this new approach by allowing John Gruber to interview Phil Schiller after Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC). It was greeted enthusiastically by fans and press alike, but it’s nothing like what we’ve seen in 2016.

In the first part of the year, Tim Cook did interviews with Charlie Rose, ABC, and Time. Starting with WWDC in June, both Craig Federighi and Phil Schiller did an interview with John Gruber.

In the last several weeks, various iterations of Tim Cook, Phil Schiller, Craig Federighi, and Eddy Cue have done extensive interviews with Fast Company, The Washington Post, and The Hollywood Reporter. Apple also presented at Black Hat for the first time in many years, and used the occasion to announce a new bug bounty program.

Next: The Secrets of AI and Apple’s Big Transformation

Page 2 – The Secrets of AI and Apple’s Big Transformation

AI and Machine Learning

Tim Cook, in particular, has done interviews before—just as Steve Jobs did. What’s unprecedented, though, is the sheer number of interviews we’ve seen in the last several weeks, as well as the larger number of executives given access to the limelight. Make no mistake about it: this is a significant shift.

Tim Cook from Washington Post Interview

At first, I thought Tim Cook simply wanted more of Apple’s top stars to get the attention they deserved. But my thoughts on the subject changed with a story from distinguished journalist Steven Levy, writing for Backchannel. That’s when it hit me that something more fundamental and important was going on.

Mr. Levy’s story was about Apple’s efforts in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and neural nets. He was given access not only to Craig Federighi and Eddy Cue, but two of Apple’s top AI scientists—that’s all but unprecedented.

Equally unheard of was his tale of sitting down with these men and being given a printed portfolio detailing many (but not all) of the places where Apple is using AI and related technologies. And how. And why.

This just isn’t how apple operates. Or, rather, this isn’t how Apple used to operate. Apple’s penchant for secrecy has been heavily discussed when it comes to AI, in particular. No one had much of an idea what Apple was doing. In the absence of any news, the outside world reached the conclusion that Apple was behind in this field.

I’ve read stories about how Apple’s policy of not publishing papers was making it hard to recruit top AI researchers. Many other stories have said that Google, Microsoft, and even Amazon were leapfrogging Apple in AI. Come on, Amazon? Yes, Amazon. That’s the narrative being spun in the vacuum of Apple’s silence.

Shrinkage and Transformation

Once upon a time, Apple might not have cared about the stories being woven about it, but the company just turned in two quarters with year-over-year declines in revenue and earnings. This was the first time in 13 years Apple didn’t grow.

That is fuel for a negative narrative. We’ve all seen it. Apple has peaked; Apple can’t innovate any more; Apple is doomed. Blah blah blah.

Again, Apple might not normally care, but there’s another factor, too. Apple is in the midst of a major transformation, and that transformation includes longer product cycles for some devices. In the absence of information, major new products seem to be years out.

Tim Cook is making sure journalists don’t fill that void with nonsense. Steven Levy’s AI piece revealed how AI, machine learning, and neural nets are transforming Apple. We never get that kind of insight direct from Apple. By showing us, Apple has significantly shifted the narrative when it comes to Apple and innovation.

Those who are cranky about the lack of new Macs might argue this wouldn’t be necessary if Apple were taking care of its existing product lines. That’s probably true, but it’s obvious Apple has different thoughts about iterative improvements to things like the Mac, and maybe the iPad.

The decision to be more active in shaping its own narrative is part and parcel of Apple’s plan. It’s a sign that Tim Cook believes the larger transformation is more important than timely iterative updates. Many of us might not like that, but Tim Cook apparently thinks differently.

Mission Accomplished

Here’s the key point, though: the reality is that Apple’s outreach is working. This barrage of interviews and access has resulted in positive stories about Apple. Those stories have already reshaped the Apple narrative from “Apple can’t innovate” to “Apple is working these things behind the scenes.”

The AI stuff in particular served notice that Apple is a leader in this field, and that it is doing so on its own terms. That circumvents the bizarre notion that a company like Amazon was somehow ahead of Apple in this field.

Apple’s secrecy worked well for a long time, but Tim Cook is demonstrating his skills at finding new paths for Apple.

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