General Motors is bleeding tech talent as its ambitious software transformation hits another speed bump. Baris Cetinok, GM's senior VP of software and services product management, becomes the third high-profile technology executive to leave the automaker in just one month, highlighting the challenges traditional car companies face when trying to reinvent themselves as tech companies.
General Motors just lost another key tech executive, and the timing tells a story the company probably doesn't want told. Baris Cetinok, who joined GM in September 2023 after stints at Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon, is departing December 12th as the automaker's senior vice president of software and services product management.
The departure marks the third tech-focused executive to leave GM since October, creating what looks less like normal turnover and more like an exodus. Dave Richardson, senior VP of software and services engineering, and Barak Turovsky, head of GM artificial intelligence, both left recently - Richardson after two years, Turovsky after just eight months.
"Baris has built a strong software product management team at GM," the company said in a statement to CNBC. "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."
But the corporate speak can't mask what's really happening here. GM is in the middle of a massive restructuring, combining its vehicle software engineering and global product units under new Chief Product Officer Sterling Anderson. The former Tesla Autopilot leader and Aurora Innovation co-founder joined GM in May with a mandate to "reinvent" the automaker's operations.
The irony is thick - just a month ago, Cetinok described his GM role as "a product person's dream" in an interview with CNBC. When Anderson's appointment was announced, Cetinok even posted on LinkedIn that he was "delighted to welcome" the new CPO. Now he's heading for the exit.
Anderson's vision is clear enough: "In order for the automaker to succeed, software and product must be thought of as one and the same," he told CNBC at GM's October tech event in New York. "That's the point of the role - it brings together all of these pieces into a unified approach to how we do product going forward."
The challenge facing GM mirrors what every traditional automaker is wrestling with - how to transform from a manufacturing company into a software-driven technology company. pioneered over-the-air updates and software-centric vehicle experiences, forcing legacy automakers to play catch-up in unfamiliar territory.