In a year where job layoffs dominated the tech sector, the biggest names in the industry were not shy to get hold of top talent for top money. 2025 marked a pivotal moment for Big Tech’s executive suites, as Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Meta reshuffled top roles amid intensifying AI races, regulatory pressures, and strategic decisions.
These management-level changes signaled deeper efforts to streamline operations, sharpen AI focus, and navigate global policy landscapes. From AI chiefs stepping aside to new heads overseeing productivity empires, the moves reshaped how these giants chase dominance in an era of generative models and antitrust scrutiny.
Hence, here are some of the biggest top management changes in Big Tech in 2025.
Apple
Apple’s leadership saw a wave of transitions in 2025, with all of them dubbed an exodus by observers. Key figures like AI head John Giannandrea have retired after years of steering machine learning initiatives. His responsibilities were swiftly redistributed to fast-track generative AI projects, underscoring Tim Cook’s push to catch rivals in the AI arms race.
Environmental chief Lisa Jackson departed, while legal veteran Jennifer Newstead assumed the general counsel role by March 2026, positioning Apple to tackle mounting regulatory battles over privacy and app stores. Official announcements framed these as natural evolutions, yet they highlighted vulnerabilities in sustaining innovation amid talent poaching by startups.
Google kicked off the year’s restructuring drama in April with a high-profile AI leadership change – Sissie Hsiao, architect of the Gemini project, stepped down, handing reins to Josh Woodward from Google Labs. The shift changed directions from raw model-building to polished consumer products, aligning with CEO Sundar Pichai’s August memo emphasising key bets like climate tech over broad experimentation. This internal change aimed to counter perceptions of Google lagging in AI demos, refocusing teams on deployable tools that integrate seamlessly into Search and Workspace.
Microsoft
Microsoft’s mid-year shake-up centralised power under fewer hands, with LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky expanding to oversee Office products — Word, Excel, and Copilot, while reporting to infrastructure boss Rajesh Jha.
Separately, Judson Althoff ascended to lead a new commercial division blending sales, marketing, and operations, liberating Satya Nadella to double down on AI orchestration. Analysts viewed this October reshuffle as a bet on AI-infused productivity, signaling Microsoft’s evolution from cloud provider to end-to-end AI enabler amid Copilot’s rapid adoption.
Meta
Meta bucked the departure trend by promoting Republican operative Joel Kaplan to Chief Global Affairs Officer, tasking him with policy navigation as AI investments ballooned.
Under Mark Zuckerberg, the company trimmed workforce layers while easing content moderation, framing 2025 as a “vision” year for AI ubiquity — from Llama models to experimental “Avocado” strategies. No C-suite exits grabbed headlines, but these tweaks fortified Meta’s defenses against US political winds and EU regulations, prioritising metaverse-AI synergies.
Mark Zuckerberg personally spearheaded the AI expansion initiative, announcing Meta Superintelligence Labs in late June, led by ex-Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman. The team targeted around 50 elite researchers, with Zuckerberg hosting candidates at his homes and offering multimillion-dollar packages, including equity. Shengjia Zhao from OpenAI joined as chief scientist to set research direction, while Yann LeCun continued leading fundamental AI efforts.
