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In December 2023, I wrote an article exploring Apple CEO Tim Cooks most likely successors, because there will come a day when he steps aside as chief executive at the iPhone maker. I wrote the piece in response to rare comments Cook had madeto Dua Lipa, no lessrevealing that Apple has very detailed succession plans in preparation for his departure. Cook tried to alleviate investor fears of a near-term departure by saying that he still planned to be at Apple for a while. But as I noted at the time, thats a subjective phraseand one Cook used nearly 18 months ago now. A lot has changed since then. Hell, a lot has changed in the tech world over the past three weeks alone, ever since Trump unleashed his disastrous Liberation Day tariffs, sending tech supply chainsand tech stock pricesinto chaos. Those tariffs have gotten me thinking a lot again about Cook, and those succession plans he announced a year and a half before President Trump lobbed an economic grenade at the world. All this has got me believing that Cook should pause any retirement plans hes had in the works and stay on as Apples CEO until at least the end of Trumps second term, in January 2029. Because the way things are going with the Trump-induced economic turmoil, Apple is going to need Cook more than ever these next four years. And Cook is uniquely suited for the challenge in two key ways. The ops guy cometh When historic tariffs require a company to completely rethink its supply chain, you want an operations guy in charge, someone deeply familiar with the companys logistics and supply chain. Thats precisely what Cook is, and his operations mastery is one of the main reasons Apple made it through its previous most economically challenging timethe late 1990s. While Steve Jobs gets all the credit for Apples late-’90s rebirth, the fact is that Jobs probably wouldn’t have been able to save the company without Cooks help. Jobs had come back to Apple in 1997 and quickly reimagined its product lineup, but that much-needed creativity injection wasnt going to fix Apples other major problem at the time: its cumbersome supply chain, which had put massive financial and logistical challenges on Apple for years. In 1998, Jobs hired Cook as Apples senior vice president for worldwide operations, and Cook immediately went to work overhauling Apples operationsfrom manufacturing to shipping to asset allocation. This clean sweep of Apples operations that Cook led enabled the company to ramp up and distribute the product innovations en masse that Jobs would soon start pumping out, including the iMac, the iPod, and the iPhone. Cooks ruthless optimization of Apples supply chain, ironically, was often used against him by those unhappy with Apples announcement in 2011 that he would succeed Jobs as CEO. Cook was an ops guy, his detractors argued, when Apple needed another product visionary like Jobs. I wont rehash much of what Ive already argued before, but while Steve Jobs was a creative genius and beloved tech leader, the simple fact is that the ops guy has grown Apple into a larger technology juggernaut, by orders of magnitude, than Jobs ever could have. When Jobs passed away in October 2011, Apples market cap was just north of $300 billion. Last year, after just over 13 years of Cooks leadership, Apples market cap reached more than $3.7 trillion. Now, of course, Apple has lost nearly a fifth of that value since, largely thanks to Trumps chaotic tariff war decimating tech stocks. But thats exactly one of the reasons Apple needs Cook more than ever. Tariff barriersespecially of this historic scaleoften require a reorganization of global supply chains. Who better to be at the helm of one of the company’s most affected by those barriers than a CEO who is arguably one of the best ops guys in business history? But its not just Cooks deep understanding of global operations that is the reason Apple needs him. Its also because Cook has shown time and again that he is one of the most skilled business leaders when it comes to engaging with President Trump. In the arena with Donald Trump In late 2024, Tim Cook received a lot of criticism from the left for being one of the many tech CEOs to meet with then-President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Cook received even more criticism in January when he personally donated $1 million to Trumps inaugural committee. Many progressives saw these actions as hypocritical, especially coming from the CEO of what has been historically considered a very liberal-leaning company. Yet these actions make more sense when you look at comments Cook made about his willingness to work with governments of all stripes shortly after President Trumps first election victory in 2016. As reported by TechCrunch in December 2016, Cook was asked by an Apple employee on an internal company message board about how important he believed it was that Apple engage with governments. The question came a week after Cook and other tech leaders met with the then-first-time president-elect. Cook answered that it was very important, noting, Governments can affect our ability to do what we do. They can affect it in positive ways and they can affect in not so positive ways.” He went on: Personally, Ive never found being on the sideline a successful place to be. The way that you influence these issues is to be in the arena. So whether its in this country, or the European Union, or in China or South America, we engage. And we engage when we agree and we engage when we disagree. I think its very important to do that because you dont change things by just yelling. You change things by showing everyone why your way is the best.” In the years since making these comments, Cook has proven this answer wasnt just lip service. Throughout Trumps first term, Cook frequently engaged with the presidentand because of it, he got Trump to exempt Chinese-sourced components critical to Apples products from the tariffs Trump raised against Chinese imports in 2019. This potentially saved Apple billionsand probably saved Americans from paying more for iPhones. Further proof that Cook has learned how to deal with Trump successfully comes from Trump himself. As CNN reported in November 2019, Trump had been asked earlier in the year why he seemed to have such a special relationship with Cook. Oh, I have it with everybody, but hes the one that calls me, Trump answered. You know why? Thats why hes a great executive because he calls me, and others dont. Others go out and hire very expensive consultants, and Tim Cook calls Donald Trump directly. Pretty good. And I would take their call, too, but the only one that calls me is Tim Cook. “I helped Tim Cook recently” This close attention that Cook pays to Trump is likely one of the reasons why Trump took a call from Cook in October 2024. Cook was reaching out to express his concerns about recent financial penalties the EU levied against Apple, to the tune of around $14 billion. The BBC reported that Trump told Cook that he would not let the European Union “take advantage of our companies (but noted that in order to make good on that Apple-friendly promise, he first needed to get elected again). And just last week, there was more evidenceagain directly from Trumpthat Cook has successfully used his relationship with the president to achieve other favorable outcomes for Apple. On April 11, the Trump administration announced tariff exemptions for certain electronic goods imported from China, including Apples iPhones and computers, thus sparing the Cupertino company from a tariff bill of up to 145% for each item imported. A few days later, as noted by 9to5Mac, when Trump talked about his flexibility concerning the tariffs he has imposed, he seemed to allude to the recent exemptions being done, at least in part, to help Cook. Look, Im a very flexible person. I dont change my mind, but Im flexible, Trump said. And you have to be. You just cant have a wall, and youll only gono, sometimes you have to go around it, under it, or above it. Therell be maybe things coming up. I speak to Tim Cook. I helped Tim Cook recently. Trump didnt explicitly say how he helped Cook, but The Washington Post reported earlier this month that Cook was heavily involved in getting Apple, and others in the U.S. tech industry, an exemption from Trump’s most recent tariffs. The White House denied that Trump did any specific favors for Cook. Still, Trumps comments again show that he, the most powerful person in the world, seems proud of being able to help Cook out. That likely wouldnt be the case if Apples CEO hadn’t so skillfully managed his relationship with Trump over the years. “Tim has a very good relationship with the president, and rightly so . . .,” Wilbur Ross, Trump’s commerce secretary during his first term, told the Post. “In general, he has a lot of respect because hes not a public whiner, hes not a crybaby, but comes with the real voice of reality. Its no surprise to me that his suggestions are being well received.” The president whisperer All of this shows that Tim Cook has a better relationship with the president than most other tech CEOs who are not involved politically with his administration. That is an extremely powerful advantage for Apple during an era becoming defined by the worst economic uncertainty America has seen since the pandemic. Trump is unpredictable, and unpredictability is very bad for companies. However, Cooks relationship with the president seems to go a long way in helping Apple mitigate the risks associated with that unpredictability. Thats something Apple cant afford to lose right now. It is highly unlikely that a new CEOeven one from Apples excellent executive teamwould be able to re-create the relationship Cook has deftly cultivated with Trump for almost a decade now. During that period, Cook has gone from just being the ops guy CEO to being as much of a presidential whisperer as one can beperhaps the most valuable skill any American businessperson can have today. For Apple’s sake, Tim Cook would do well to stay put, at least for the next four years.
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E-Commerce
Last year was a record year for disasters in the United States. A new report from the British charity International Institute for Environment and Development finds that 90 disasters were declared nationwide in 2024, from wildfires in California to Hurricane Helene in North Carolina. The average number of annual disasters in the U.S. is about 55. The Federal Emergency Management Agency provides funding and recovery assistance to states after disasters. President Donald Trump criticized the agency in January 2025 when he visited hurricane-stricken western North Carolina. Though 41% of Americans lived in an area affected by disaster in 2024, according to the institutes report, the Trump administration is reportedly working to abolish or dramatically diminish FEMAs operations. FEMA has been a very big disappointment. They cost a tremendous amount of money. Its very bureaucratic, and its very slow, Trump declared, saying he thought states were better positioned to take care of problems after a disaster. A governor can handle something very quickly, he said. Trumps remarks have prompted a heated response, including proposals to fundamentally overhaulbut not abolishfederal disaster recovery. But I believe the current discussion about FEMA handling U.S. disasters puts the emphasis in the wrong place. As a scholar who researches how small and rural local governments cooperate, I believe this public debate demonstrates that many people fundamentally misunderstand how disaster recovery actually works, especially in rural areas, where locally directed efforts are particularly key to that recovery. I know this from personal experience, too: I am a resident of Watauga County, in western North Carolina, and I evacuated during Hurricane Helene after landslides severely impaired the roads around my home. Volunteers and Vermont Army National Guardsmen help to unload pallets of emergency drinking water at a community food and resource share at the Ludlow Community Center. The emergency drinking water was supplied by FEMA. [Photo: Vincent Alban/The Boston Globe via Getty Images] When disaster strikes Here, in short, is what happens after a disaster. Federal legislation from 1988 called the Stafford Act gives governors the power to declare disasters. If the president agrees and also declares the region a disaster, that puts federal programs and activities in motion. Yet local officials are generally involved from the very start of this process. Governors usually seek input from state and local emergency managers and other municipal officials before making a disaster declaration, and it is local officials who begin the disaster response. Thats because small and rural local governments actually have the most local knowledge to lead recovery efforts in their area after a disaster. Local officials determine conditions on the ground, coordinate search and rescue, and help bring utilities and other infrastructure back online. They have relationships with community members that can inform decision-making. For example, a county senior center will know which residents receive Meals on Wheels and might need a wellness check after disaster. However, small towns cannot do all this alone. They need FEMAs money and resources, and that can present a problem. The process of applying and complying with the requirements of the grants is incredibly complex and burdensome. According to FEMAs website, there are eight phases in the disaster aid process, composed of 28 steps that range from preliminary damage assesment to recovery scoping video to compliance reviews and reconciliation. Getting through these eight phases takes years. The FEMA Public Assistance National Delivery Model Workflow Snake [Graph: FEMA] Larger cities and counties frequently have dedicated staff that apply for disaster aid and ensure compliance with regulations. But smaller governments can struggle to apply for and administer state or federal grants on their ownespecially after a disaster when demands are so high. Thats where regional intergovernmental organizations come in. Every region has its own name for these entities. Theyre often called councils of government, regional planning commissions or area development districts. My colleagues and I call them RIGOs, for their initials. What is a RIGO? No matter the name, RIGOs are collaborative bodies that allow local governments to cooperate for services and programs they might not otherwise be able to afford. Bringing together local elected officials from usually about three to five counties, RIGOs help local officials cooperate to address the shared needs of everyone in their area. They do this in normal times; they also do this when disasters strike. RIGOs operate throughout most of the U.S., in big cities and rural areas, in turbulent times and in calm. They serve different needs in different regions, but in all cases, RIGOs bring together local elected officials to solve common problems. One example of this in western North Carolina is the Digital Seniors project, launched during COVID-19. Here, the local RIGO is called the Southwestern Commission. In 2021, the RIGO area agency on aging coordinated with the Fontana Regional Library to help dozens of elders who had never been connected to the internet get online during the pandemic. The Southwestern Commission used its relationships with the local senior centers to identify people who needed the service, and the library had access to hot spots and laptops through a grant from the state of North Carolina. In rural areas, RIGOs work alongside regional business and nonprofits to allow local governments to offer regular services and programs they might not otherwise be able to afford, such as public transportation, senior citizen services or economic development. Part of that work is helping member governments navigate the maze of federal and state funding opportunities for the projects they hope to get done, often by employing a specialized grant administrator. Each small local government may not have enough work or revenue to justify such a staff member, but many together have the workload and funding to hire someone specially trained to abide by the rules of funding from states and the federal government. This system helps small local governments receive their fair share in federal grant money and report back on how the money was spent. Transparency, technical compliance and action Disasters rarely respect borders. Thats why governments generally work together to distribute grant money for rebuilding communities. In the summer of 2022, eastern Kentucky faced deadly flooding after receiving about 15 inches of rain over four days600% above normal. The North Fork of the Kentucky River crested at approximately 21 feet, killing over two dozen people and damaging 9,000 homes and more than 100 businesses. Laura Humphrey walks a wheelbarrow to a pile of debris while volunteering to clean up in Perry County, Kentucky. [Photo: Michael Swensen/Getty Images] The Kentucky River Area Development District, a RIGO representing eight counties, played a key role in the areas recovery. It secured millions in FEMA aid and maintained critical services, including expanded food delivery and transportation for elderly residents. Similarly, after disastrous flooding hit Vermont in 2023 and 2024, another RIGO, the Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission, jumped into action. It quickly provided emergency communication to the 23 small villages and towns in its region and has since supported local governments applying for grants and reimbursements. Today, it continues to assist in Vermonts disaster planning and flood mitigation. This is also part of the recovery process. Local control Rebuilding after a disaster is a long, arduous process. It begins after national journalists and politicians have left the area and continues for years. That would be true no matter how Trump restructures emergency aid: The damage is massive, and so is the repair. For example, heres how western North Carolina looks six months after Helene: Most businesses have reopened, most folks have running water again, and people can drive in and out of the area. But many roads are still full of broken pavement. Mud from landslides presses up against the sides of the highway, and condemned housing teeters on the edge of ravaged creek beds. It is, in other words, too soon to see the full impact of local government efforts to rebuild my region. But RIGOs across the region are hiring additional temporary staff to help local governments get federal money and comply with complex guidelines. Their support ensures that decisions affecting North Carolinians are voted on by the city and county leaders they electednot decreed by governors or handed down from Washington, D.C. Locally led rebuilding is slow and difficult work, yes. But it is, in my opinion, the most community-responsive way to deal with disaster. Jaylen Peacox, a graduate student in public administraion at North Carolina State University, contributed to this story. Jay Rickabaugh is an assistant professor of public administration at North Carolina State University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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E-Commerce
The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. The landscape of home automation has sparked numerous discussions about security and control. According to SonicWalls comprehensive 2025 Annual Cyber Threat Report, smart home products experienced a staggering 124% increase in cyberattacks during 2024, with smart plugs emerging as particularly vulnerable targets. These vulnerabilities have ignited growing consumer concern about the safety of cloud-dependent technologies that have dominated the smart home market. As our homes become increasingly connected, the cloud-connected home automation weve been seeing for the past decade is being critically examined. A growing segment of consumers now seeks alternatives emphasizing local control, data privacy, and system resilience. Here well examine the emerging paradigm of locally controlled smart home technologies, an approach that promises to return technological autonomy to homeowners. The current landscape of smart home technology The modern smart home ecosystem has evolved into an interconnected network predominantly reliant on cloud infrastructure. This cloud-centric approach requires constant internet connectivity, routing even the simplest commands through distant data centers thousands of miles away. While promising convenience, this model introduces vulnerabilities: A single network interruption can render home systems inoperable. Each connected device becomes a potential cybersecurity entry point. Data privacy becomes increasingly compromised as more personal information is transmitted and stored remotely. Real-world IoT and smart home security failures The most troubling aspect of cloud-dependent smart home technology is the threat of planned obsolescence. Manufacturers can shut down cloud services that power devices consumers have already purchased, rendering functional hardware useless. For example, in February 2024, Amazon announced that its Echo Connect landline adapter would cease functioning, giving users just three weeks’ notice. This transition forced vulnerable users to quickly adapt to new technologies or lose access to a potentially life-saving communication tool. The Echo Connect shutdown is far from an isolated incident. In April 2022, Insteon abruptly shut down its servers without warning, rendering thousands of connected devices instantly nonfunctional. These incidents expose a critical flaw in cloud-dependent systems: Consumers never truly own their devices. When business interests change or financial pressures mount, companies canand sometimes mustabandon their customers. Beyond platform shutdowns, security researchers continue to uncover alarming vulnerabilities in cloud-connected devices. For example, in 2020, multiple families experienced privacy violations when their Ring security cameras were compromised, allowing strangers to speak directly to family members through the devices meant to protect them. Corporate resistance to local control Some manufacturers have actively blocked consumers from maintaining local control of purchased devices. In January 2024, appliance giant Haier issued legal threats against a developer who created Home Assistant integration plugins for the company’s smart appliances. These open-source tools allowed consumers to control their purchased devices without relying on Haier’s cloud infrastructure. Despite overwhelming community support, with users creating hundreds of backup copies of the developer’s work, Haier’s aggressive stance exemplifies how manufacturers prioritize maintaining control over their ecosystems rather than respecting consumer ownership rights. These failures underscore fundamental problems with cloud-dependent smart home technologies that consumers are increasingly recognizing: Personal security is compromised when critical home systems depend on external servers. Single points of failure make entire ecosystems vulnerable. Personal data faces unnecessary exposure and transmission risks. Manufacturers maintain excessive control over hardware consumers believe they own. There is a growing community focused on local control, like Home Assistant, where users actively discuss strategies to maintain autonomy and minimize cloud dependency. The local control revolution Locally controlled smart home technology represents a paradigm shift in home automation, offering a fundamentally different approach to device management and data processing. At its core, this approach keeps all smart device functionalities within your home’s local network, providing unprecedented levels of privacy, reliability, and user control. The key principles of local control are simple. Locally controlled smart home technology represents a paradigm shift, offering fundamentally different approaches to device management and data processing: Local processing: Devices process information directly within the home network, delivering near-instantaneous response times Network independence: Systems operate independently of internet connectivity Privacy by design: Data processing remains within the home network, creating a barrier against external data collection Platforms like Home Assistant and Hubitat have emerged as leaders in this revolution, offering robust, customizable ecosystems that prioritize user autonomy. These platforms empower tech-savvy users to build truly personalized smart home experiences that reflect their unique needs and values. The path forward The shift toward locally controlled smart home technology presents a significant opportunity for forward-thinking developers and manufacturers. As consumer demand for privacy, security, and true ownership grows, businesses that embrace this paradigm wll gain competitive advantage in an increasingly crowded market. For developers and product teams, the strategy is clear: Incorporate local processing capabilities alongside cloud features, respect user autonomy through open APIs, and build trust through transparent data practices. Companies that prioritize these values aren’t just serving a nichethey’re positioning themselves at the forefront of the next evolution in smart home technology. The most successful smart home ecosystems won’t be those that lock users into vulnerable cloud dependencies, but those that empower customers with genuine control while delivering exceptional experiences. Svetlin Todorov is cofounder of Shelly and CEO of Shelly U.S.A.
Category:
E-Commerce
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