General Motors’ software and technology organization has seen the departure of three senior executives over the past month, as the U.S. automaker moves to consolidate its previously separate technology units under a new leadership structure.
Baris Cetinok, senior vice president of software and services product management, is set to leave the company effective Dec. 12, CNBC first reported. His exit follows the recent departures of Dave Richardson, senior vice president of software and services engineering, and Barak Turovsky, who joined GM in March as head of artificial intelligence. Cetinok and Richardson both joined GM in 2023, and all three executives previously held senior roles at major technology firms, including Apple and Google.
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The executive turnover comes months after GM appointed Sterling Anderson to the newly created position of chief product officer, a role that centralizes oversight of nearly all vehicle development-related functions. Anderson reports to GM President Mark Reuss and oversees vehicle and manufacturing engineering, battery development, and software and services product teams. The position is intended to unify responsibility for hardware, software, digital services, and user experience across GM’s portfolio.
According to statements tied to the leadership changes, GM is restructuring to reduce internal silos and better integrate software development with vehicle engineering across its brands. Rather than operating as separate organizations with overlapping responsibilities, the company plans to merge hardware engineering, software development, artificial intelligence, and global product functions into a single structure.
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As part of the reorganization, Anderson is also recruiting new leadership. GM has appointed Cristian Mori, previously at Symbiotic, Rivian, and Boston Dynamics, to head a newly established robotics leadership role. The automaker has also named Behrad Toghi, a former Apple executive, as its AI lead, and hired Rashed Haq as vice president of autonomous vehicles. Haq previously held leadership roles in AI and robotics at Cruise, GM’s former self-driving subsidiary.