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Indian-origin Sabih Khan to take over as Apple COO
Khan, who was born in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, joined Apple in 1995 and has held several key roles throughout his three decade-long career at the company
Apple has appointed Sabih Khan as chief operating officer (COO), in what is the latest instance of an India-born executive rising to a senior role at a global company.
Khan will succeed Jeff Williams later this month, as the latter prepares to retire by the end of the year.
Born in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, Khan joined Apple in 1995 and has held several key roles throughout his three decade-long career with the tech giant.
He became part of Apple’s executive team in 2019 as senior vice-president of operations. In that role, he led global supply chain efforts, including product quality, procurement, manufacturing, logistics, and supplier responsibility programs.
Prior to Apple, Khan worked at GE Plastics as an applications development engineer and key account technical leader. He holds bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering and economics from Tufts University and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Apple chief executive officer (CEO) Tim Cook highlighted Khan’s work in improving Apple’s manufacturing process and reducing the company’s carbon footprint.
“Sabih is a brilliant strategist who has been one of the central architects of Apple’s supply chain. While overseeing Apple’s supply chain, he has helped pioneer new technologies in advanced manufacturing, overseen the expansion of Apple’s manufacturing footprint in the US, and helped ensure that Apple can be nimble in response to global challenges. He has advanced our ambitious efforts in environmental sustainability, helping reduce Apple’s carbon footprint by more than 60 percent. Above all, Sabih leads with his heart and his values, and I know he will make an exceptional chief operating officer,” Cook said in a statement.
Williams, who worked closely with Khan for 27 years, said, “I think he’s the most talented operations executive on the planet. I have tremendous confidence in Apple’s future under his leadership in this role.”
According to Apple, the leadership change was a “long-planned succession.”
It comes at a time when the company is facing pressure from the US government to shift more of its manufacturing to that country.
Apple is also managing customer dissatisfaction and legal action related to delays in rolling out its Generative AI-enhanced Siri features on the iPhone 16 series.
Khan joins the ranks of other high-profile Indian-origin executives leading global companies. These include Satya Nadella, CEO and chairman of Microsoft; Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet; Shantanu Narayen, CEO of Adobe; Arvind Krishna, CEO of IBM; and Leena Nair, CEO of Chanel.
Others in this group include Sanjay Mehrotra of Micron Technology, Anirudh Devgan of Cadence, Vasant Narasimhan of Novartis, and Reshma Kewalramani of Vertex.
Khan will report to CEO Cook as he steps into his new role later this month.
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