Apple (AAPL, Financial) is set to appoint a new global head for its retail stores as part of a management restructuring aimed at streamlining its retail division, currently led by executive Deirdre O'Brien. Vanessa Trigub, previously in charge of store management for the Western Americas and retail operations, will be promoted to Vice President of Global Stores and Retail Operations. In her new role, Trigub will oversee retail leaders in Europe, the Middle East, the Asia-Pacific region, and the Eastern Americas.
This structural change grants Vanessa Trigub more responsibilities and simplifies the retail organization. Deirdre O'Brien will continue to oversee the retail division but will have fewer direct reports, now managing only Trigub and vice presidents responsible for retail real estate, marketing, and online sales. Additionally, O'Brien is involved in restructuring the human resources department following the departure of former Chief People Officer Carol Surface.
Apple's retail network spans approximately 535 stores globally. Since Deirdre O'Brien took over in 2019, the leadership of Apple’s retail network has remained stable. Insiders speculate that the company might be grooming Vanessa Trigub as a potential successor to O'Brien, who has been with Apple for over 30 years. As several executives near retirement age, succession planning has become a focus within the company.
This marks the second notable management shift at Apple recently. Last week, CEO Tim Cook replaced AI head John Giannandrea with Vision Pro leader Mike Rockwell to oversee the Siri voice assistant operations. This move highlights Apple's urgency to catch up with competitors in the AI sector and its efforts to reorganize its tech teams to improve performance.
