Dive Brief:
- General Motors has reshuffled its software and services unit, tapping Sterling Anderson to lead the organization, a company spokesperson confirmed to WardsAuto.
- The company also confirmed the departure of Dave Richardson, GM’s former software and services organization leader, who elected to step down Oct. 31.
- “We’re changing the structure of the Software and Services Engineering team to accelerate how we develop and deliver technology experiences to our customers and the company,” GM spokesperson Kevin Kelly said in an email to WardsAuto. “As part of this change, we are bringing together vehicle software engineering and Global Product under one organization, led by Sterling Anderson.”
Dive Insight:
GM hired Anderson, a co-founder of autonomous trucking developer Aurora Innovation, as its new global chief product officer in May, tasking him with overseeing the entire end-to-end product lifecycle for both gas- and electric-powered vehicles, including hardware, software, connected services and user experience.
Anderson officially joined the company in June and splits his time between GM's Global Technical Center in Warren, Michigan, and its Mountain View Technical Center in California, leading a team of more than 20,000 employees working on the automaker’s next-generation technology.
Prior to co-founding Aurora, where he served as chief product officer, Anderson worked for electric automaker Tesla, where he led both the Model X program and the team that delivered the company’s Autopilot autonomous driving system.
Like other automakers, GM is working to launch new software-defined vehicles and deliver new connected services to customers.
Richardson, along with Baris Cetinok, were promoted in June 2024 to lead GM’s software and services organization. Richardson previously spent 12 years at Apple as an engineering lead for some of its popular services, including iCloud, FaceTime and Siri, while Cetinok formally served as senior director of product management at Apple. Cetinok remains at GM and currently serves as SVP of software and services product management, program management and design, according to his corporate bio.
Richardson’s departure from GM was amicable, according to Kelly. “We thank him for his contributions,” he said in an emailed statement.
Before leaving the automaker, Richardson recently appeared on stage at the company’s “GM Forward” media event on Oct. 22 in New York, joining CEO Mary Barra, President Mark Reuss and other executives to share the automaker’s future software strategy and vision.
Announcements included GM’s plan to begin offering a more advanced, “eyes-off” version of its Super Cruise hands-free driving system in 2028. The upgraded system will debut in the Cadillac Escalade IQ electric SUV.
The automaker also announced plans to integrate coversational AI in its vehicles and adopt a new centralized computing platform starting in 2028. The software-based vehicle architecture will bundle all of a vehicle’s core systems, including powertrain, steering, infotainment and safety, using a single, high-speed processor.
The new platform will add 10 times more over-the-air software update capacity to GM vehicles, as well as 35 times more AI performance to support autonomous driving and other advanced features, according to an Oct. 22 press release. It will be adopted for both GM’s internal combustion engine vehicles and fully electric models and will continue to evolve with over-the-air software updates.
“We can use artificial intelligence in vehicles to go beyond what almost any other device could do for their users,” Anderson said in an Oct. 9 blog post. “I continue to view vehicles as one of the most opportune embodiments of AI today.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify the locations where Anderson works.
