This former Apple CEO believes OpenAI could be Cupertino’s ‘first real competitor’ in decades

“In the agentic era, we don’t need a lot of apps – it can all be done with smart agents,” Sculley said at the Zeta Conference in New York. “AI has not been a particular strength for them.”

Sculley may have a point. Among its megacap tech peers, Apple is the only major company that remains largely on the sidelines when it comes to artificial intelligence. Some observers believe Apple has disappointed users and investors by not being transparent about its AI strategy. The company has even delayed the launch of the next generation of Siri until at least next year.

Meanwhile, OpenAI seemingly came out of nowhere and has achieved a major breakthrough with its ChatGPT AI bot, which now receives over 800 million visits each week.

To make matters worse, longtime Apple design chief Jony Ive sold his nascent startup, LoveFrom, to OpenAI for $6.5 billion in May. In the announcement, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed that the company is currently working on new hardware devices, a space where Apple has maintained a lead.

As Sculley pointed out, the age of apps may be ending, and agentic AI could be what replaces it.

“When we had apps at the center of everything, it was about selling tools, selling products,” Sculley said. “When you think of subscription, it’s about people paying for something as long as they need it.” He added that subscriptions offer a much better business model.

OpenAI’s aggressive investment in AI, and its push to turn ChatGPT into an “everything app” is putting pressure on Apple, which many feel lacks both a clear role and a cohesive strategy in this new era.

Experts already warn that iPhone sales may eventually decline, and the company currently has no other blockbuster product to fall back on. Meanwhile, Meta is betting big on smart glasses as the next wave of consumer tech.

Sculley also acknowledged growing speculation that current Apple CEO Tim Cook might be considering retirement soon. He said that whoever replaces Cook will need to help Apple transition from the app era to the agentic era.

Scully is a co-founder of Zeta Global, a data-driven marketing technology company he co-founded with David Steinberg in 2007. He recently retired from his role as co-founder and vice chairman to become vice chairman emeritus.