Apple Assigns Ex-Wearables Leader to Lead Project Titan

Apple’s Project Titan reportedly has a new leader after the departure of Doug Field earlier this week. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple has selected Kevin Lynch to lead its mysterious efforts to create a self-driving electric vehicle.

Lynch is an Apple stalwart who has been with the company since 2013 and reportedly joined the Project Titan team earlier this year. Before that, he was a VP of Technology in the company’s wearable unit and has made appearances at Apple events to present watchOS updates and features.

Before Apple, Lynch spent 17 years at Adobe, where he departed as the software company’s CTO and served as Chief Software Architect.

In the past year, Apple has seemed gung-ho on its reported electric vehicle plans, even hiring a couple of senior automotive executives from EV makers like Porsche and Canoo. However, earlier this year talks between Apple and Hyundai to manufacture its vehicle fell apart. Since then, Apple has been linked to other major manufacturers but no progress has been reported.

Lynch’s rise to the top could mean that the Cupertino-based tech giant is rethinking its priorities or entering into a new stage of development as Field had brought hardware engineering and automotive experience. With a software-minded executive in charge, Apple could be signaling a renewed focus on its self-driving platform and underlying EV software, while its recent hires focus on the more physical components on the EV.