GM Names Aurora Co-Founder as New Chief Product Officer

General Motors has appointed Sterling Anderson, an experienced professional in autonomous vehicles, to oversee its entire lineup of gas-powered and electric vehicles in a newly created role that will impact nearly every department within the U.S. automaker. As the new VP of global product and chief product officer, he will manage the full lifecycle of GM’s offerings, encompassing hardware, software, services, and user experience.

Anderson, who will report to GM President Mark Reuss, will begin his role on June 2, operating from the company’s Mountain View Tech Center in California.

He recently garnered attention after announcing his departure from Aurora, the autonomous vehicle company he co-founded with two fellow innovators in the field. His exit from both the firm and the board came shortly after Aurora launched its commercial self-driving truck service in Texas.

In a recent interview with TechCrunch, Anderson revealed that he hadn’t planned to leave Aurora, but discussions with GM leadership, including Chair and CEO Mary Barra, made him see the “significant potential for what we could achieve there.”

“The scope of our initiatives at GM is vast,” he stated during the interview. “We have the chance to positively influence millions of lives, creating enjoyable experiences in their vehicles while enhancing safety and effectiveness on our roads.”

Anderson’s role will encompass all aspects of GM’s operations, which under Barra’s leadership is focusing on modernizing and electrifying its vehicle lineup. He will lead teams involved in vehicle and manufacturing engineering, battery technology, and software and services product management, including Kurt Kelty, the former Tesla executive overseeing battery, propulsion, and sustainability.

Moreover, the leaders of global manufacturing, product engineering, software and services, vehicle product programs, safety, and integration will report directly to Anderson.

“Our customers are asking more from our vehicles than ever before,” Reuss remarked. “We are positioned to revolutionize how we develop vehicles from the ground up, promoting closer integration between software and hardware, speeding up development cycles, and maintaining a strong focus on a seamless customer experience. Sterling brings decades of automotive engineering expertise and innovative software know-how to this new role and is the ideal candidate to help GM lead both now and in the future.”

Anderson noted that he wouldn’t have left Aurora, where he was chief product officer, if the company hadn’t recently reached a significant milestone with its driverless truck service.

He did not disclose his immediate priorities at GM, mentioning that he will first focus on understanding the company, its culture, and its products.

Anderson acknowledged a “pretty long list of areas” he is eager to explore more thoroughly. However, he reassured GM shareholders, customers, and employees that they shouldn’t expect major alterations in the current company direction.

He stressed that his interests are closely aligned with the vision expressed by Barra, underscoring the need for rapid iterations and software-defined vehicle platforms to deliver services and updates throughout a vehicle’s life.

Previously, Anderson held the position of director of Tesla’s Autopilot program before co-founding Aurora in 2017 alongside CEO Chris Urmson, the former head of Google’s self-driving initiative, and Drew Bagnell, who led Uber’s autonomy and perception team. The impressive backgrounds of this trio brought instant attention to Aurora, leading to investments from renowned firms like Sequoia Capital, Amazon, and T. Rowe Price Associates, in addition to various partnerships.

Anderson has earned master’s and Ph.D. degrees in robotics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.