General Motors hired Mike Abbott, a former vice president of engineering for Apple’s Cloud Services division, to be executive vice president of software for the automaker. Abbott will lead the company’s end-to-end software organization.
“Mike’s experience as a founder and entrepreneur coupled with his proven track record creating and delivering some of the market’s most compelling software-defined solutions for consumers and companies make him an excellent fit at GM,” said GM CEO Marry Barra.
Abbott will focus on developing software at the vehicle and enterprise levels. He’ll also work on digital services for retail and commercial customers. GM will establish a team that will include Abbott, Software Defined Vehicle And Operating System Vice President Scott Miller, Information And Digital Technology Vice President Stacy Lynett, and Chief Digital Officer Edward Kummer.
While working with Apple Cloud Services, Abbott was a team leader of a crew responsible for developing the core infrastructure for iCloud iMessage, Private Relay, Mail, and overall account security. He also held positions with Apple’s Education and Enterprise categories.
Abbott was also a visiting scholar at Stanford’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He focused on research in computer vision.
In March, GM announced that it was eventually going to stop offering Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in its electric vehicles. Instead, the automaker intends to develop its Ultifi software system as an alternative to this tech.
GM believes it can develop better software in-house rather than what third parties can offer. The company also expects the software to be more easily upgradeable to add new features.
For now, this strategy only applies to electric vehicles from GM. Combustion-powered vehicles will continue to be available with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
GM doesn’t say specifically that Abbott’s role includes working on the new in-vehicle software. However, given his past work, it seems like the task would be up to his skills.
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