Overview

• Sculley made the assessment at the Zeta Live conference in New York, calling OpenAI the first serious challenger Apple has faced in many years.
• He said AI has not been Apple’s strength and pointed to slower product momentum, citing a delayed Siri overhaul earlier this year compared with faster updates from OpenAI, Google, Amazon, and Meta.
• He highlighted OpenAI’s purchase of Jony Ive’s device startup for more than $6 billion, suggesting Ive could bring world-class hardware and interface design to large-model experiences.
• He noted speculation about Tim Cook’s eventual retirement and said the next leader will need to steer Apple through a shift to agentic computing.
• He predicted agentic AI will automate knowledge workers’ tasks and push the industry toward subscription models, and Apple did not comment on his remarks when asked.