General Motors (GM) appears to be positioning Sterling Anderson as a leading contender to succeed CEO Mary Barra when she eventually retires. Anderson is the Chief Product Officer at GM (GM) after being the co-founder of autonomous trucking startup Aurora and working at Tesla (TSLA), where he led both the Model X program and the team that delivered Tesla Autopilot.
He joined General Motors (GM) in June with an explicit mandate to inject cutting-edge software, autonomous capabilities, and greater computing power across GM’s vehicle portfolio, spanning both combustion and EV platforms. Barra has tasked Anderson with delivering on a faster, more integrated hardware-software development model and helping GM compete more credibly with software-centric rivals. His performance is seen by some as a de facto audition for the automaker’s top job, according to Bloomberg.
The CEO position at General Motors (M) has been filled by Barra since 2014, who has been the longest-serving CEO since the company moved out of its government-backed bankruptcy following the financial crisis.