The software team at General Motors has lost three top executives in the past month. This change comes as the automaker consolidates its various technology businesses into a single organization under the leadership of its new chief product officer.
Baris Cetinok, the senior vice president of software and services product management, is leaving the company. His departure was first reported by CNBC and is effective December 12. He is the third senior leader to leave recently, following Dave Richardson, senior vice president of software and services engineering, and Barak Turovsky, who was hired in March as the head of AI.
Cetinok and Richardson both joined GM in 2023. All three executives brought significant technology experience from previous roles at companies like Apple and Google.
These departures follow the hiring of Sterling Anderson several months ago for the newly created role of chief product officer. Anderson, who reports to GM President Mark Reuss, now has direct management over nearly every department at the company. His responsibilities include leading the vehicle and manufacturing engineering, battery, and software and services product management teams. The goal of this position is to oversee the entire lifecycle of GM’s portfolio, integrating hardware, software, services, and user experience.
This executive turnover is part of a broader restructuring at GM designed to break down internal silos. The plan is to better integrate how software is developed and deployed across the company’s cars, trucks, and SUVs. Instead of maintaining separate teams with overlapping roles, the company aims to combine hardware and software engineering, AI capabilities, and global product into one unified organization.
As Sterling Anderson reshapes the organization, he is also bringing in new talent. Cristian Mori has been hired to fill a new role as head of robotics. While GM has had engineers working on automation and robotics, this is the first dedicated chief robotics position, which will be part of Anderson’s organization. Mori’s background includes roles at Symbiotic, Rivian, and Boston Dynamics over the past five years.
In other recent hires, GM brought on Behrad Toghi as its new AI lead in October. Toghi previously worked at Apple. The company also hired Rashed Haq as vice president of autonomous vehicles. Haq spent five years at Cruise, the self-driving vehicle company that was acquired and later shuttered by GM, where he served as head of AI and robotics.