Apple Sales Executive Resigns to Lead Defense Innovation Unit in US Defense Department

Apple loses another key executive after several resignations in the past few months. The senior sales executive is leaving Apple to accept the offer of a director in the United States Department of Defense.

Leaving for US Dept. of Defense

Apple Sales Executive Doug Beck announced his departure from the company as he accept a senior role in public service. According to Bloomberg's report, the former Apple executive will lead the Defense Innovation Unit of the Department of Defense.

This role aims to promote the use of commercial technology within the US military. Aside from this, Beck will also be advising Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on technology strategy as a part of his role of being a director of the unit. His role in the department is a full-time job.

As a part of the realignment of the Defense Innovation Unit, Beck will report directly to Austin instead of functioning as a defense agency under the office of the undersecretary. "DIU's mission is to accelerate the adoption of commercial technology at speed and scale, and these changes will further enable it to effectively execute this critical mission," Austin stated.

Space News reported that this was Michael Brown's previous role before he left the unit in September 2022. He left the Department of Defense last year as he joined the venture company Shield Capital.

The department offered this role as Beck has over fifteen years of experience living and working in different countries in Asia including Japan, China, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, and Indonesia. He already worked with this unit when he founded the agency's joint reserve component.

9To5Mac reported that he also served as a captain in the US Navy Reserve in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, and Presidential Unit Citation.

Beck's Time in Apple

Apple released a statement regarding Beck's departure from the company and said that they fully support entering public service and wish him all the best. Despite being one of fewer than 20 executives to report to Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, his departure represents another loss for the company.

Beck managed sales to governments, health institutions, and schools, which served him as one of the company's two sales chiefs. While he was in charge of sales, Mike Fenger is in charge of product and enterprise sales globally.

Before being an executive for the Cupertino giant, Beck also ran sales in some parts of the world, as he became the Vice President of Americas and Northeast Asia in September 2015 up until June 2019, as per his LinkedIn account.