General Motors has turned to Sterling Anderson, a veteran of the self-driving car industry, oversees its entire range of gas-powered and electric vehicle products and touches nearly every division of U.S. automakers in the newly created work. The new vice president of the Global Product and Chief Product Officer position will cover the entire life cycle of the GM portfolio and include hardware, software, services and user experience.

Anderson will report to GM president Mark Reuss, who will start with his new position on June 2.

Anderson made headlines after announcing last week that he would resign from AURORA, an autonomous vehicle company he co-founded with two other pioneers in the AV space. His resignation includes resignations from the Aurora board, which comes just a week after the company launched its commercial self-driving truck service in Texas.

Anderson told TechCrunch that he didn’t expect to leave Aurora, but the more he talked to General Motors leadership, including Chairman and CEO Mary Barra, the more he appreciated the potential of what we could do. ”

“The scope of what we do with GM is a broad range,” he noted in a recent interview. “It’s a capability that can make the lives of millions of people better, including the magical experiences in their vehicles, and also improves the safety and efficacy of the road.”

Anderson's role covers every corner of General Motors, which, under Barra, modernizes it and sets its automotive portfolio to electrical. He will lead vehicle and manufacturing engineering, battery and software and service product management teams. This means Kurt Kelty, who heads battery propulsion and sustainability, will also report to Anderson.

The automaker's global head of manufacturing and product engineering, software and services, as well as vehicle product programs, safety and integration will also report to Anderson.

“Our customers expect more from our vehicles than ever before,” Ruth said in a statement. “We have the opportunity to develop from scratch, integration between software and hardware, integration between shorter development cycles, and unwavering focus on seamless customer experiences. STERLING brings decades of leadership in automation engineering and transformative software innovation and brings new roles to his new role and can help GM continue to lead now and in the future.”

Anderson said he would not have left Aurora if the company hadn't recently reached its major autonomous self-driving truck service milestone, who is the chief product office.

Anderson won't say what he's on GM's initial to-do list, noting that he'll focus on understanding the company, culture, and products.

Anderson said he was very interested in a better understanding. But GM shareholders, customers and employees should not expect the company’s current road to go extremes.

He noted that his areas of interest were consistent with Barra's vision, such as the need for rapid iteration and software-defined vehicle platforms that serve customers and update vehicles throughout their lives.

Anderson left the director of Tesla’s autonomous driving program with CEO Chris Urmson in 2017, with CEO Chris Urmson, former CEO of Google’s autonomous driving program, while Drew Bagnell, who leads Uber’s autonomous and perception team. The trio's lineage will cause an immediate buzz from Aurora, helping it attract high-profile investors such as Sequoia Capital, Amazon and T. Rowe Price Associates, as well as a range of partnerships.

Anderson holds a master's degree and a doctorate degree. Degree in Robotics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.