Business Superhero: Johny Srouji

17 Mar 2016

We all know the legend Steve Jobs and more recently the work of Tim Cook. But what about Johny Srouji? Heard of him? Didn’t think so.

Johny is the senior VP for hardware technologies at Apple. He runs the division that makes processor chips. This is pretty much what makes your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and life (oh sorry not that one) work.

So what’s happened to put Johny on the map and now one the biggest senior VP shareholders at Apple? Well let the story begin…

Once a upon a time in a land far far far away, well the Atlantic, there was a kingdom called Silicon Valley, and a magical company called Apple was facing a serious issue – Its iPad Pro was seriously behind schedule.

Elements of the hardware, software, and accompanying stylus weren’t going to be ready for release in spring. So the announcement was delayed, giving everyone else more time to put their feet up, relax, enjoy the moment. But not Srouji.

Thanks to this delay, his little tech brains, or processor chips, which his division creates needed a serious upgrade. The original plan was to introduce the iPad Pro with Apple’s tablet chip, the A8X, the same processor that powered the iPad Air 2. But thanks to the delays, the iPad’s popular cousin the iPhone 6 was going to be out and proud – with a chip that was way better. It was faster, shinier, and newer. This was a game changer.

The iPad Pro had to be the best on offer, it was Apple’s big hello to the world of business. So it couldn’t fall at the first hurdle.

Srouji challenged his engineers to finish the new tablet chip six months early. This was no easy task but the engineers did it, creating the fastest chip on the market and making the iPad Pro a success.

Srouji was nicely rewarded for his efforts. He became the latest member of Cook’s management team and received about 90,000 additional shares. Sounds pretty jammy to us.

Thanks to Srouji determination, dedication, cool under pressure, innovation, and his ability to inspire and instill confidence in his team, he ensured one of the world’s biggest launches didn’t fall down.

The lesson to learn from Srouji: you might not be the loudest, cleverest, most outspoken staff member, but if you gain the trust of your peers and work hard, whatever the challenge, you’ll gain the respect and rewards you deserve.