Ford Hires Apple Veteran Peter Stern To Lead New Division

(RTTNews) - Ford Motor (F) Monday announced that it has hired Apple Inc. (AAPL) veteran Peter Stern to lead a newly created division, Ford Intergrated Services, which will focus on developing and marketing software-enabled customer experiences for the autogiant.

Stern most recently served as vice president of Services at Apple for more than six years through January 2023 and was a driving force behind the launch of Apple's portfolio of services, including Apple TV+, Apple News+, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, MLS Season Pass and Apple One. He will be president of "Ford Integrated Services." He starts with the automaker immediately.

"This is transformational, because the cornerstone of our Ford+ plan is creating incredible customer services and experiences enabled by great hardware and software," Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement. "There's simply no one in the world better able than Peter Stern to build this strategically vital part of our business."

Stern said he was motivated to join Ford to help transform the company with valuable and affordable services for millions of customers.

"I love creating new services businesses and this is the perfect chance to do just that," Stern said. "The auto industry is undergoing an unprecedented transformation, from gas engines to electric vehicles and from human to autonomous driving

Farley has hired several executives from outside the automotive industry to his management team, mostly from tech industry, to assist in implementing the company's Ford+ restructuring plan.

Most notably, Farley poached former Tesla and Apple executive Doug Field to lead Ford's technology efforts.