Apple hires former AstraZeneca CIO David Smoley

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in General Discussion
Apple has hired the Chief Information Officer of AstraZeneca David Smoley, with the former pharmaceutical executive reportedly taking a similar role within the iPhone maker as a vice president.




David Smoley joined Apple earlier in September, and will be reporting to Chief Information Officer Mary Demby in his new position. Apple confirmed the hiring of Smoley on Friday.

While Smoley's work will likely be similar in scope to that of his time at AstraZeneca, it is thought by sources of Bloomberg he won't be involved in Apple's healthcare arm at this time. AstraZeneca has so far declined to pass comment on the former executive.

Before working as the CIO for pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca for six years, Smoley held the same position of CIO as well as Senior Vice President of Flextronics from December 2016, and before that CIO and Vice President of Aerospace Electronic Systems at Honeywell. Smoley has worked as the Director and CIO for GE Power Controls in Barcelona, Spain, and has served as a member of advisory bards for HotLink, SnapLogic, Egnyte, Trifacta, and InformationWeek.

A graduate of Clemson University with a BS in Computer Science and an MBA in Marketing and General Management from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, Smoley is also identified as an early adopter of cloud computing. He is also the recipient of the Fisher-Hopper Prize, for a Lifetime Achievement in CIO Leadership" according to his LinkedIn profile.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 15
    randominternetpersonrandominternetperson Posts: 3,089member
    It must be strange to be the CIO of a tech company.  The CIO of a non-tech company has the most responsibility for the technology direction of the company.  At a company like Apple, not so much.  Frankly I have no idea what the CIO of Apple is responsible for.  Is he responsible for the operation of all the data centers that Apple manages?  Or is that entirely under some other senior executive?
  • Reply 2 of 15
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    This sounds like its a win-win for Apple:   Getting what sounds to be a highly competent guy with tons of industry experience.   My bet is he will be an asset to Apple bringing some fresh perspectives rooted in knowledge and experience.
  • Reply 3 of 15
    iOS_Guy80iOS_Guy80 Posts: 814member
    Working in the pharmaceutical industry he knows how to generate income.
  • Reply 4 of 15
    AppleExposedAppleExposed Posts: 1,805unconfirmed, member
    iOS_Guy80 said:
    Working in the pharmaceutical industry he knows how to generate income.
    Apple HealthCare coming?
    iOS_Guy80mwhite
  • Reply 5 of 15
    leavingthebiggleavingthebigg Posts: 1,291member
    iOS_Guy80 said:
    Working in the pharmaceutical industry he knows how to generate income.
    Apple HealthCare coming?
    It’s already here as a subsidiary named AC Wellness... https://www.acwellness.com/
  • Reply 6 of 15
    iOS_Guy80iOS_Guy80 Posts: 814member
    AppleExposed said:
    iOS_Guy80 said:
    Working in the pharmaceutical industry he knows how to generate income.
    Apple HealthCare coming?
    We have Apple Care. Maybe iCare, iMeds, iHealth?
  • Reply 7 of 15
    AppleExposedAppleExposed Posts: 1,805unconfirmed, member
    iOS_Guy80 said:
    AppleExposed said:
    iOS_Guy80 said:
    Working in the pharmaceutical industry he knows how to generate income.
    Apple HealthCare coming?
    We have Apple Care. Maybe iCare, iMeds, iHealth?

    I was gonna say "Apple Health" but that's kinda a thing too....
  • Reply 8 of 15
    chasmchasm Posts: 3,305member
    Totally a win-win. Apple gains a very smart CIO type executive with broad experience across a number of relevant industries, and in return Mr Smoley gets to get back to working for a company with some ethics again.
  • Reply 9 of 15
    rogifan_newrogifan_new Posts: 4,297member
    Apple gets its health insurance from the company I work for. In fact we set up a special client management/support team of around 80 people in Texas just to service Apple members. It’s called Apple Hub.
  • Reply 10 of 15
    fruitstandninjafruitstandninja Posts: 104member
    orthorim said:
    iOS_Guy80 said:
    Working in the pharmaceutical industry he knows how to generate income.
    Horrible... just like Google... pharma agenda going into tech companies.

    Pharma industry makes money by keeping people alive & sick, dependent on their products.

    Great move, Apple. 

    This is a massive disappointment. 
    I don’t think you read the article. While Smoley’s last job was at Astra he has much more experience as a CIO elsewhere and degrees in computer science from Clemson. He is anything but a big pharm exec strolling into Apple. 
    Solin2itivguy
  • Reply 11 of 15
    robin huberrobin huber Posts: 3,960member
    fruitstandninja said:
    orthorim said:
    iOS_Guy80 said:
    Working in the pharmaceutical industry he knows how to generate income.
    Horrible... just like Google... pharma agenda going into tech companies.

    Pharma industry makes money by keeping people alive & sick, dependent on their products.

    Great move, Apple. 

    This is a massive disappointment. 
    I don’t think you read the article. While Smoley’s last job was at Astra he has much more experience as a CIO elsewhere and degrees in computer science from Clemson. He is anything but a big pharm exec strolling into Apple. 
    No matter how you spin it, he was a mouthpiece for one of the most despised industries in America. Now doing same for one of the most admired? What’s the opposite of putting lipstick on a pig? Joker mask on Mother Theresa? This hire might make business sense, but has terrible optics. 
    Tragic
  • Reply 12 of 15
    PickUrPoisonPickUrPoison Posts: 302member
    robin huber said:
    fruitstandninja said:
    orthorim said:
    iOS_Guy80 said:
    Working in the pharmaceutical industry he knows how to generate income.
    Horrible... just like Google... pharma agenda going into tech companies.

    Pharma industry makes money by keeping people alive & sick, dependent on their products.

    Great move, Apple. 

    This is a massive disappointment. 
    I don’t think you read the article. While Smoley’s last job was at Astra he has much more experience as a CIO elsewhere and degrees in computer science from Clemson. He is anything but a big pharm exec strolling into Apple. 
    No matter how you spin it, he was a mouthpiece for one of the most despised industries in America. Now doing same for one of the most admired? What’s the opposite of putting lipstick on a pig? Joker mask on Mother Theresa? This hire might make business sense, but has terrible optics. 
    One of the most despised industries in America? Maybe by you. Spoken like someone whose life (or that of a loved one) hasn’t been saved by a therapeutic drug.

    And since when is a CIO a “mouthpiece” for any industry? You seem confused and more than a little angry. A joker mask on Mother Theresa? Really?

    The optics are fine. He’s hardly Martin Shkreli, Elizabeth Holmes or part of the Sackler family.  Dial down the hysteria a few notches, and stop painting everyone with such a broad brush. 
  • Reply 13 of 15
    robin huberrobin huber Posts: 3,960member
    PickUrPoison said:
    robin huber said:
    fruitstandninja said:
    orthorim said:
    iOS_Guy80 said:
    Working in the pharmaceutical industry he knows how to generate income.
    Horrible... just like Google... pharma agenda going into tech companies.

    Pharma industry makes money by keeping people alive & sick, dependent on their products.

    Great move, Apple. 

    This is a massive disappointment. 
    I don’t think you read the article. While Smoley’s last job was at Astra he has much more experience as a CIO elsewhere and degrees in computer science from Clemson. He is anything but a big pharm exec strolling into Apple. 
    No matter how you spin it, he was a mouthpiece for one of the most despised industries in America. Now doing same for one of the most admired? What’s the opposite of putting lipstick on a pig? Joker mask on Mother Theresa? This hire might make business sense, but has terrible optics. 
    One of the most despised industries in America? Maybe by you. Spoken like someone whose life (or that of a loved one) hasn’t been saved by a therapeutic drug.

    And since when is a CIO a “mouthpiece” for any industry? You seem confused and more than a little angry. A joker mask on Mother Theresa? Really?

    The optics are fine. He’s hardly Martin Shkreli, Elizabeth Holmes or part of the Sackler family.  Dial down the hysteria a few notches, and stop painting everyone with such a broad brush. 
    You seem unclear on the concept of optics. They have little to do with truth, everything to do with perception. I take your point on the hysteria. Considered it dialed down. 
  • Reply 14 of 15
    karmadavekarmadave Posts: 369member
    Who cares that he used to work for a pharmaceutical company? Since when is this a crime? Sounds like Apple wanted a competent, experienced IT executive to fill out their management. He will be reporting to Mary Demby, the current Apple CIO (Corp IT) and not Internet Services Group which reports you Eddie Cue...
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