Alphabet’s Nest loses its long-time head of industrial design

According to Recode, Nest has lost its long-time head of industrial design. Overseeing a number of products since 2013, including the recently announced Nest Cam IQ, Rocky Jacob is leaving for European luxury brand LVMH.

Jacob was hired in 2013 as the company’s first industrial designer and played an instrumental role in building out the design team. Beforehand, Nest worked with an outside contractor, while Jacob was a lead industrial designer at HTC for over two years.

At Nest, he oversaw the development of the third-generation Learning Thermostat released in 2015 and the second-generation Protect smoke alarm. More recently, he worked on the Cam IQ, as well as several other yet to be released products.

Sources talking to Recode claim a deprioritization of design as Nest becomes more integrated into Alphabet following the departure of CEO and founder Tony Fadell. With design being a “core focus” at Nest since its inception, this “cultural shift” could explain Jacob’s departure.

Jacob is leaving to become the chief product officer of Rimowa, a high-end luggage company that is owned by fashion conglomerate LVMH. However, his LinkedIn profile has been updated to note that he remains an “advisor” to Nest.