Editorial
The Gist
- Secrecy breeds silos. Apple’s extreme secrecy policies limit internal collaboration, stifling innovation and AI progress.
- Speed matters in AI. Rival AI teams thrive on open communication and fast iteration — something Apple’s structure prevents.
- Apple Intelligence needs a cultural shift. To deliver a cohesive AI experience, Apple must rethink its internal communication strategy.
Apple has long thrilled the public by keeping its products secret and releasing them in high-gloss events with “one more thing” surprises. The company’s marketing magic has made its launch events must-see-TV, with audiences held in suspense knowing they might learn something new at any moment.
These signature events, backed by strong product execution, helped turn Apple into one of the world’s most prized brands, an enduring icon atop the world’s most valuable company leaderboard.
But times have changed, and Apple must, too. The company’s been unable to keep its product pipeline under wraps, with major recent launches including the Vision Pro and Apple Intelligence documented in painstaking detail by reporters before the curtain’s rise, particularly by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. And, for the modest payoff of revealing already-known surprises, Apple’s paid a significant price, one that’s now manifested in a full-blown crisis.
Table of Contents
- When Internal Secrecy Becomes a CX Liability
- Why Collaboration Is the Real Competitive Advantage
- The Long-Term Cost of Outsmarting Yourself
When Internal Secrecy Becomes a CX Liability
To keep its products secret from the public before launch, Apple’s kept them secret from many of its own employees. To speak with colleagues about the project they’re working on, Apple employees must ensure their counterparts are “disclosed,” or allowed to know about it. If you’re not both disclosed on the product, you can’t compare notes, ask for advice or share concerns about bottlenecks. The system stymies collaboration, especially when building cutting-edge technology that necessitates quick, multi-unit collaboration.
Imagine this style for your CX or marketing team?
The secrecy is particularly destructive in artificial intelligence development. Modern day AI moves fast — much faster than iterating on operating systems — and nimble teams obsessed with discovery have led the field. It was OpenAI, then a small non-profit, that released ChatGPT. It was High-Flyer, a once-obscure Chinese hedge fund with a bunch of GPUs, that released DeepSeek r1.
Related Article: How Cross-Department Collaboration Fuels a Customer Experience Model
Why Collaboration Is the Real Competitive Advantage
These upstarts didn’t have more means or superior talent to Apple; they had employees that talk all day about what they’re working on, compare notes on the latest discoveries and learn from each other.
At Apple, the AI team working on one product might not be allowed to talk to the AI team on another. The computer vision engineers working on FaceID, for instance, couldn’t speak with the computer vision team working on the company’s now-defunct self-driving car project, as I reported in my book, Always Day One. With two teams working in parallel on the same AI technology, the result can be underwhelming execution.
And no project within Apple requires a removal of silos more than Apple Intelligence. In its ideal form, the technology will touch all parts of the company’s operating systems (mobile and desktop), bringing information from every app into a cohesive experience with Siri at the center. Saddling the team building Apple Intelligence with the company’s traditional culture is a recipe for a perpetual dud. Reforming Apple’s secrecy culture, more than shuffling executives, is the way forward.
The Long-Term Cost of Outsmarting Yourself
This is not a new problem for Apple. One ex-Apple engineer who worked on its beleaguered HomePod product told me a concerning story as I reported the Apple chapter of Always Day One. The employee, while on the project, never saw the physical HomePod outside of one chance encounter.
"A few months before it launched, I happened to be in an office of an engineer who had a cardboard box in the corner of the room,” the ex-Apple employee told me. “And I was like, 'What's that?' and he goes, 'That's the HomePod,' so I happened to see one that was turned off.”
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With procedures like this, the company seems like it’s outsmarting itself. The HomePod, unsurprisingly, remains a disappointment.
I’m not suggesting Apple take down all barriers and allow all employees to speak freely to the public. But the company has lost the element of surprise in its product reveals, and it has nothing to lose by breaking down the barriers. If it wants Apple Intelligence to succeed, and to be broadly competitive building AI products, it’s long past time to knock down the walls.
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