On Tuesday, March 12, General Motors’ (GM) Executive Vice President of Software and Services, Mike Abbott, will step down from his position due to health reasons.
[I] t’s with great disappointment to share that [I] ‘m stepping down from my role at GM. Since late last year, [I] ‘ve been facing some serious health issues involving my heart that have not improved. As a father and husband, I need to prioritize my recovery and be with my family with the hope that my health will improve over time,” said Mike Abbott on LinkedIn.
Abbott was a former Apple executive for the tech giant’s Cloud Services division. He spearheaded the legacy automaker’s software and services division. Abbott’s work was aiding GM in ramping up electric vehicle production and subscription services.
Abbott’s team was split into three subsections, each focused on distinct software functions: The Software Defined Vehicle and Operating System team, the Information and Digital Technologies team, and the Digital Business team.
General Motors’ Vice President of Product in Software and Services, Baris Cetinok, has been assigned as interim head of Abbott’s department.
Abbott’s leave might be a big blow to GM’s plans for software development this year. Last month, CEO Mary Barra told investors that 2024 would be the “year of execution” as General Motors attempts to restart electric vehicle production, relaunch Cruise, and fix software glitches in new vehicles.
While speaking at the Wolfe Research Global Auto and Auto Tech Conference, Barra noted that one of GM’s biggest challenges this year would be producing vehicles right with the proper software.
“I wish I would have brought in the team we have now earlier,” Barra said, speaking of Mike Abbott and his team.
“Mike Abbott has brought in an incredible team: hired people from Google, from Apple, from Meta and many tech companies. We’ve already revamped the software development process and more importantly, the validation process,” she clarified.
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