Mike Abbott, a former executive at Apple, was appointed by General Motors on Tuesday to head a subsidiary that will combine three software-related business units.

Abbott will lead the development of automotive and enterprise software technologies as of May 22, when his appointment becomes official.

According to GM CEO Mary Barra, “We have entered the next phase of our technology-driven transformation, focused on rapidly scaling new EV models.”

The underlying architecture for all of Apple’s cloud-based services, such as iCloud, iMessage, Private Relay, Mail, and account security, was developed by a team Abbott oversaw at the tech giant.

With the push toward electric vehicles, automakers like GM and Ford Motor Co. have been boosting their investments in technology and software services in an effort to profit from subscription-based services.

According to GM CEO Mary Barra, “We have entered the next phase of our technology-driven transformation, focused on rapidly scaling new EV models.”

The underlying architecture for all of Apple’s cloud-based services, such as iCloud, iMessage, Private Relay, Mail, and account security, was developed by a team Abbott oversaw at the tech giant.

Nearly two years have passed since Doug Field, the director of Apple’s automobile project, was appointed by Detroit-based Ford to spearhead its advanced technology and embedded systems initiatives.