GM software chief Baris Cetinok Departs During Automaker Restructuring

DETROIT – General Motors is experiencing further executive churn within its technology ranks as the automaker undergoes a significant restructuring of its software and product development divisions, CNBC has learned. This marks the third high-profile departure in recent weeks as GM consolidates its software and hardware engineering efforts.

Baris Cetinok, Senior Vice President of Software and Services Product Management, is slated to leave GM on December 12th, the company confirmed. This follows an internal announcement to employees.

Cetinok’s exit comes as GM integrates its vehicle software engineering and global product teams into a single unit under the leadership of Chief Product Officer Sterling Anderson, hired earlier this year from autonomous driving firm Aurora Innovation.

“Baris has built a strong software product management team at GM. We’re grateful for his contributions and wish him continued success. With hardware and software engineering unified under Global Product, we’re integrating product management with engineering to accelerate the delivery of exceptional in-vehicle experiences,” GM stated in an emailed response to CNBC.

Cetinok, who joined GM in September 2023 after previous roles at major tech firms including Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon, was unavailable for comment. The timing of his departure is notable, given that he described his role as “a product person’s dream” in a recent interview with CNBC.

Prior to Cetinok’s departure, Dave Richardson, Senior Vice President of Software and Services Engineering, and Barak Turovsky, head of GM Artificial Intelligence, also left the company. Richardson had been with GM for over two years, while Turovsky joined in March. These departures raise questions about the long-term viability of GM’s strategy of recruiting talent from Silicon Valley to drive its software initiatives.

Anderson, brought in to streamline GM’s product and software development, emphasized the need for a unified approach. His strategy suggests a top-down restructuring meant to hasten product innovation under a central vision.

“That’s the point of the role, I think, is it brings together all of these pieces into a unified approach to how we do product going forward,” Anderson said during an Oct. 22 interview at a GM technology event in New York. This suggests a move away from previously siloed teams towards an integrated product development framework.

Anderson, a former McKinsey & Co. consultant with experience leading Tesla’s AutoPilot program, aims to accelerate GM’s innovation pace. He intends to leverage his experience in both established automotive and emerging tech environments.

When Anderson’s appointment was announced, Cetinok publicly welcomed him to the company. GM CEO Mary Barra and GM President Mark Reuss also highlighted Anderson’s capabilities to “evolve” and “reinvent” the automaker’s operations, signaling a long-term strategic shift.

The automotive industry has been racing to integrate advanced technologies into vehicles, enhancing both production processes and in-car user experiences through software and over-the-air updates. This trend, pioneered by Tesla and increasingly adopted by other automakers, aims to provide continuous feature improvements and bug fixes.

GM’s strategy, like that of other legacy automakers, involves recruiting executives from technology companies like Apple and Google to help implement this transformation. However, the recent departures underscore the challenges of integrating talent from the fast-paced tech world into the more traditional automotive industry culture. This raises concerns about whether GM can successfully retain high-level tech talent and effectively execute its long-term technology roadmap.