GM CEO Mary Barra: How AI Will Redefine Driving by 2028

The future of driving is closer than you think. I sat down with Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, who’s behind the latest breakthroughs in autonomous cars — including the new “eyes-off” system that lets you stop watching the road. I saw how AI will soon plan your routes, learn your habits, and even take your car to service on its own. This is the technology that will completely change how we move, work, and live. Links: Follow my Newsletter:⁠⁠ https://siliconvalleygirl.beehiiv.com/⁠⁠ https://siliconvalleygirl.beehiiv.com/ My Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/siliconvalleygirl/ ⁠⁠ https://www.instagram.com/siliconvalleygirl/ YouTube: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@SiliconValleyGirl⁠⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@SiliconValleyGirl LinkedIn: ⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/marinamogilko⁠⁠ https://www.linkedin.com/in/marinamogilko/ X: ⁠⁠https://x.com/siliconvalleymm⁠ https://x.com/siliconvalleymm

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  This episode is brought to you by Indeed. You're ready to level up your business, but the pressure to find the right person to make that happen is intense. Indeed sponsored jobs can help carry the load. It boosts your job post to help it reach quality talent fast. Cut through the chaos with Indeed sponsored jobs. Get a $75 sponsored job credit at indeed.com/podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring now? Then this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs.

• 0:30Speaker 01

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• 0:59Marina Mogilko?

  We're hoping for 28, right?

• 1:01Speaker 03

  Yeah, no, I mean, that's what the team is working for.

• 1:03Marina Mogilko?

  Imagine being able to take your eyes and hands off the wheel, go through your work emails, watch your favorite TV show, maybe grab lunch. Gemini coming out next year, right? So you will be able to talk to your vehicle.

• 1:15Speaker 03

  It's going to be able to even alert you before something happens so you can take care of it.

• 1:20Marina Mogilko?

  This is Mary Barra, the CEO of General Motors, one of the most powerful people in the automotive world and the woman leading the transformation of how humanity moves.

• 1:30Speaker 04

  This is becoming a robot and eventually you can see a world where it's acting on your behalf fully autonomously.

• 1:36Marina Mogilko?

  AI is changing everything. It's no longer just a car. It's an assistant that might know you better than anyone. So the real question is, are we ready for it?

• 1:48Marina Mogilko?

  Mary, thank you so much for doing this. I'm so excited to host you on Silicon Valley Girl.

• 1:53Speaker 03

  I'm really excited to be on Silicon Valley Girl and have a chance to talk to you and tell you what's going on at General Motors.

• 1:58Marina Mogilko?

  Oh, yeah, I'm a proud owner of Cadillac Escalade. It was one of the first with the Super Cruise. I was dying to get it. So we had to go to LA because Bay Area was sold out. Went to like. Got it. And we've been driving it since. It's such a good investment, especially when you have technology mixed with quality, right? Because you still want to feel good in your car. Today, you presented a lot of new updates. Let's imagine 2030, I'm in my new Escalade. What is the experience like?

• 2:26Speaker 03

  Well, I think one of the things is it's still going to be very personalized. And we think we can continue to advance the vehicle. You know, we talked about adding the Google Assistant. We'll follow up with our own assistant that's much more integrated into the vehicle, leveraging vehicle data, get to know you know the vehicles, so that it can even be a more customized experience. And then, when you think about what we can do from an autonomy perspective, we shared that we'll start with highway autonomy, where you can literally take your eyes off the road. And then we'll continue to expand that into urban, urban locations. And, you know, by 2030, I'm kind of done making predictions as it relates to autonomy, because I think it is one of the hardest challenges from a technological perspective. But I think we're going to make advancements like we do today with Super Cruise.

• 3:11Speaker 03

  And we'll make those advancements once we have eyes off from a highway perspective. And so in 2030, I think, you know, people are going to see that their vehicle allows them to lead a much more integrated life, that the vehicle makes their life easier, makes them more efficient, gives them back some time.

• 3:32Marina Mogilko?

  All right, welcome to the new Cadillac Escalade. That's the driving experience of 2028, when you don't have to look out and watch the cars. You don't have to put your hands on the wheel. You just go have your TV screen here, catch up on your emails. This is what I'm waiting for. And also like, because I always have my kids in the back, right? I can just pass things, I can talk to them, and the car will be driving by itself. Oh my goodness, I love the screen situation. I love that now we have like a full-scale TV section here. There's screen for the passenger. The seats are almost identical to what I have now with the sound system here. They have the purse section right here, so you can put your bag.

• 4:20Marina Mogilko?

  It's big.

• 4:22Marina Mogilko?

  The charger, everything's electric. The steering wheel is again very similar to what I have. This is the technology. I think this is where they track your eyes and your hands. I cannot wait till 2028 to start driving this vehicle. I love how the Cadillac is this mix of technology and luxury. Because we have, you know, very smart vehicles in the market, but they don't feel like luxury. This feels beyond luxury. The blue stitches, like all the details. It feels like it's a car from the future because of the design, but also they maintain the classic, the classic design adding all the details.

• 5:08Marina Mogilko?

  Another fascinating loose case that I got from the presentation is that imagine something's wrong with the vehicle and you need to take it to service. Now ideally in 2028, your vehicle detects the problem by itself because it's AI powered. Second, it knows when you need the car. So in the time when you don't need the car, it will just take itself to the service center, get serviced, come back to your house for you to be ready to move. How do you look at competition? Because there are already companies that are doing full autonomy. What do you think about that, like about this gap?

• 5:43Speaker 03

  I think if you look at who's doing full autonomy, you know, you have, it's in the robotaxi arena.

• 5:48Marina Mogilko?

  Yeah.

• 5:49Speaker 03

  And so that's a very, and generally in a very concise ODD, even if it's in different cities, it's operating, an operating area.

• 5:59Marina Mogilko?

  Oh, got it. So it's like, yeah.

• 6:00Speaker 03

  Right. And so I think when you look at, we're talking about something much more broad on highways at speed and then moving into urban. So I think when we look at it from a personal autonomous, it's going to, we think we'll be among the leaders in doing that and doing that safely. Understand what the robotaxis are doing, but it is different than when you get into personal autonomy and you have to integrate back and forth between I'm driving the vehicle and I'm responsible to the vehicle is taking control. It's actually a much more complex system to solve.

• 6:33Marina Mogilko?

  Gemini coming out next year, right? So you will be able to talk to your vehicle. You'll be able to ask like, where's the nearest whatever? We don't need gas stations, but the nearest service, et cetera. What is the most compelling use case that you've seen with Gemini? Like, what makes it stand out?

• 6:51Speaker 03

  I think when you look at AI and the fact that, you know, you can, it's not just, you know, play the latest Taylor Swift song, which I'm a Swiftie, so love. But it can be much more of, hey, I'm headed here. Can you route me on the way? I'd like to stop and get, you know, a coffee at my favorite coffee shop. Or, hey, I'm kind of hungry. I'm not familiar with this area. Where's the best place for me to get a turkey sandwich? You know, kind of thing. I mean, you can just ask it like, or my favorite food is X, and it can help integrate that and make sure you're going to the best restaurant. So it's going to take all that information. It's going to be able to do that as we get further along. It's going to be able to even integrate more and know how the systems in the vehicle are working

• 7:35Speaker 03

  and alert you before something happens. So you can take care of it. So I think it's going to be a journey, you know, from what we have today to what we'll have with Google. And then the further integration with General Motors, we'll even be able to pull more information from the vehicle to make it even more personalized.

• 7:52Speaker 00

  This episode is brought to you by Indeed. You're ready to level up your business, but the pressure to find the right person to make that happen is intense. Indeed sponsored jobs can help carry the load. It boosts your job post to help it reach quality talent fast. Cut through the chaos with Indeed sponsored jobs. Get a $75 sponsored job credit at indeed.com/podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring now? Then this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs.

• 8:22Speaker 01

  Visible puts the ultimate wireless hack in the palm of your hand. With unlimited 5G wireless data and hotspot, designed to keep you connected. Powered by Verizon's 5G network. And no contract holding you back. Plans start at $25 a month. Or get the premium Visible Plus Pro Plan and save $10 on your first month when you use promo code HACK. Make the switch at visible.com. Terms apply. See visible.com for details.

• 8:54Marina Mogilko?

  I'm excited about AI in vehicles. So you're going to integrate with Gemini. And I have a question from the user's standpoint. Is it the same Gemini I have in my phone? Like, I mean, does it have information about me? Or is it a specific Gemini for the vehicle that is not connected to me as a person?

• 9:08Speaker 04

  Okay, good question. So today we talked about almost like two timelines, actually. One is going to be, you might already heard this from Google as well, which we are closely partnering with. Google Assistant is going to evolve and become Google Gemini in the vehicles. So therefore, that's going to be where the journey starts. So that's going to be the first upgrade. The second thing is, in addition, in parallel, we're working on developing our own assistant that is for GM by GM. We will use, of course, providers who are already providing large language models. We're not going to be in the business of developing a frontier model or a foundation model.

• 9:50Speaker 04

  We will build on top of technologies, but we're not ready yet to disclose what backend we're going to be using. But our goal with that GM assistant is to build something that is deeply contextually aware. Because I think, I think we all know this. Contextual AI is where the magic is going to unlock. Now, we can get, we can get nerdy. We're talking about Silicon Valley here. Where we, we will design a system where our assistant, our agent, will be able to talk to other agents. Because the world you're describing is exactly that, right? Because you are going to have this graceful handoffs. You're going to say, hey, I'm in New York. Look at the next three flights available. The AI should learn you prefer to fly, let's say, with United.

• 10:33Speaker 04

  It should talk to the United agent and say, here's the three flights that you might want to. So that's the goal. What we want to create a Uber agent, an Uber assistant, that is the GM assistant, that can broker those type of interactions.

• 10:47Marina Mogilko?

  Love it. Let's imagine 2050.

• 10:50Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 10:51Marina Mogilko?

  What driving looks like with AI. Let's be super futuristic. Because you're building this, right? You probably are thinking about those days. Okay, what is your wildest?

• 11:00Speaker 04

  2050, when is that? So it's 25 years from now on? So like we talked about earlier today. The level of autonomy, I think, is going to continue to increase. I think Mary even alluded to it in her presentation today, where you will, we will reach a world where the car would be doing things even without you in the car. Where it could run errands on your behalf, where it could take itself to be car washed and serviced and changed the tires. So I think 25 years is a long time, and I reserve to be wrong, and thank God it's such a long time.

• 11:34Marina Mogilko?

  Well, would we get this earlier, something you described, it's already feels like it's a possibility now.

• 11:40Speaker 04

  Again, it's possible. I think it's all now we can actually again get a little bit nerdy around like the diffusion of innovation, right? It's not equally distributed, right? We are experiencing that today. However, maybe the economics are not there yet for it to be mass scale, right? They're in pockets, right? The robotics experience, those are expensive cars to build with those sensor sets. But in 25 years, one could imagine the sensors get cheaper, the AI models we use get smarter. So therefore, the world where we're seeing the car truly fully autonomously behaving on your behalf, I think will be real in 25 years.

• 12:19Marina Mogilko?

  The actual robot that we're gonna have in our household, right?

• 12:22Speaker 04

  Exactly.

• 12:23Marina Mogilko?

  Just the ones.

• 12:24Speaker 04

  It's not the robots, right? This is a, I think Sterling said this way, this is a purpose-specific robot that provides the mobility. We are gonna have purpose-specific robots, right? We are gonna have probably humanoid in our house helping with home chores. We will have quote-unquote robots maybe helping with education. And yes, this is becoming a robot, and eventually you can see a world where it's acting on your behalf fully autonomously.

• 12:51Marina Mogilko?

  Wow. Okay, flying cars?

• 12:53Speaker 04

  Why not?

• 12:54Marina Mogilko?

  And when it comes to technology, so I asked one of my friends who's also working on like self-driving, I'm like, when will be the year? When I can just put my kids in the car and the car will take them to school? When do you think this is coming? And he said. Available right now from the technology perspective? Because he said from technology perspective, we can do it now. It's just a regulation.

• 13:13Speaker 03

  Well, I think right now we do have a patchwork of regulation. We're hoping for one federal regulation because I think that will unlock autonomous technology. I think a lot of it, being a mother myself, although my children are adults now, is looking at, you know, when is the right time to do that? So I think, you know, from a technology perspective, we'll get there and then it's going to have to be a judgment piece of how old is your child? Where are they going? All of that. And so, you know, we're on our way to get there. And, you know, I think that we'll get to a point. I think we need to get to full, you know, as we start with L4 highway. Obviously, you know, you're still in the urban area is going to need to take responsibility for driving. So I think that'll happen over time.

• 13:53Marina Mogilko?

  So when we're driving right, right now, the vehicle is watching us and it's seeing like my eye movements and everything. Is it like civilians? Like, does it read my conversation? Like, what happens if the government wants to take my data? Like, the privacy issue?

• 14:09Speaker 03

  Well, and this is where, you know, we, we have a new, over a year now, a privacy officer that is working across the organization, helping people understand we want to make sure we're following all the privacy requirements. And, you know, a lot of the information we feel is the customer. So the customer has to give, give the company permission, even if we're going to use it from an anonymized perspective. So everything we do will be with a focus on privacy and security and then also cybersecurity. So that, we have dedicated people in the company that focus on making sure we understand the laws and that we're following all of them. And, and, you know, even more so, doing what we think consumers would want us to do.

• 14:50Marina Mogilko?

  The next step is taking your eyes off the road.

• 14:54Speaker 03

  Right. And that is what we, you know, we are going to be delivering in the 28 timeframe with, again, with first from a highway perspective. So that's, that will happen and then we'll keep advancing that and get to urban, et cetera. So, you know, that's coming in the not too distant future. It's really right around the corner.

• 15:10Marina Mogilko?

  28, we're hoping for 28, right?

• 15:11Speaker 03

  Yeah, I know. I mean, that's what the team is working toward. And, you know, when I look at what we've been able to build with all of the resources we have from a software perspective, and then what we had from the team that's done Super Cruise, along with the Cruise resources, bringing them all together, then they're doing it right now. So that's what makes me really excited.

• 15:32Speaker 05

  What we announced today is an eyes-off autonomy capability. Nothing of that sort exists in the market today. And when you think about that, you're basically asking the driver to take your eyes off, not pay attention at all on the road. That's a very, very high bar. And for us to safely maneuver different conditions that we spoke about here in the demo, we need sensor redundancies to be built in so that the car can handle very complex scenarios in all weather conditions without requiring human intervention. Like, human intervention cannot be a backup. That cannot be a safety valve, and we're not going to use it. So we are going to...

• 16:11Marina Mogilko?

  So even if something's going on, there won't be a situation where the car just flashes, right, and like, "Take over, take over, take over"? So you're excluding that?

• 16:18Speaker 05

  So we will have situations where, when the car is exiting its operational domain. So the product right now will launch with highways only. So you'll only be able to use this product when you're on the highway. When you're off the highway, this product will not be available. And so when you're on the highway, you can use it, but as you are going to come to an exit, we will ask you to take over the control.

• 16:44Marina Mogilko?

  You have three different systems, right? You have a lighter, you have cameras, and you have a radar. Can you talk to me about the difference between the three systems?

• 16:53Speaker 05

  Yeah. So what we wanted to share here is that how the different sensors come together to provide 360-degree continuous information to our driving system so that it enables it to make splits or even fraction of a second decisions. It can see further, react faster than a human would ever can, and can work in all weather conditions.

• 17:16Marina Mogilko?

  When do you think the full autonomy is coming?

• 17:18Speaker 03

  You know, I think we're going to keep approaching that. And as Sterling talked about, Sterling Anderson, who was our Chief Product Officer, we're going to keep working and making sure we do that safely. So it'll be, you'll see incrementally that we'll keep adding, adding from the area in which you can do it to the complexity of the environment. So I learned, I first started making predictions about autonomy back in 2016.

• 17:41Speaker 03

  As I look now, we're going to, we're going to put it into the vehicle as soon as it's ready and it can be deployed safely.

• 17:47Marina Mogilko?

  Yeah.

• 17:48Speaker 03

  And that's what will be the gating factor.

• 17:49Marina Mogilko?

  Safety is the main concern right now.

• 17:50Speaker 03

  Safety is something, you know, General Motors has a rich history of having that relationship of trust with our consumer that they, they know we put a lot of thought into our systems being safe. And so we want to put that same level of prioritizing safety that we have done in Super Cruise into as we get to, you know, L4 highway and, and then we'll expand from there.

• 18:13Marina Mogilko?

  And Super Cruise, you mentioned 700 million miles.

• 18:16Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 18:16Marina Mogilko?

  No accidents.

• 18:17Speaker 03

  Correct.

• 18:18Marina Mogilko?

  Correct. That is fascinating.

• 18:19Speaker 03

  Yeah, well, and again, it's, we know vehicles and we've really looked to make sure that, that the technology is well validated. So we're very proud of our safety record and we work to continue to get better every day and give more features like trailering and, you know, integration with Google Maps. So there's new features and new roads being added to, to Super Cruise all the time.

• 18:43Marina Mogilko?

  So we talked about AI transforming the driving experience. How is it transforming the production?

• 18:48Speaker 03

  Well, I think we're, we're leveraging, I mean, I think it's such an interesting time right now when you look at the power of artificial intelligence and we're focusing on the main areas in the business of how do we use it to improve manufacturing. Sterling Anderson talked about one of the things that General Motors has that is unique is all of this information and data of, of how, how, how things are manufactured. And I think when you look at that and the power of data to, to really help advance AI, we're in a unique position to make our, our manufacturing processes more efficient, serve our operators better. When we think about designing the vehicle, you know, looking at the areas that we can, that right now people are doing, how do we make it more efficient and, and allow our

• 19:31Speaker 03

  engineers to really focus on optimizing technology, you know, safety. It allows us to do more validation. There's so much from that perspective. And then from a how we go to market, imagine leveraging artificial intelligence to really understand the customer better and reach that customer in a more focused way so they get the information they want. Want. There's been so much advancement in that space as well. And then lastly, what I would say is also putting the tools in the hands of our employees. One of the things I've encouraged everyone at the company to do is become familiar with it. Because it's easy to kind of be a little bit wary of it if you don't understand it. Once you use it, I think it really, and I make sure I'm constantly using it.

• 20:14Speaker 03

  Even in my daily life unrelated to work, to just see the power of it. Because once you use it, use it for this. And you're like, oh, I can use it for this. It's, you know, one of the things my daughter does that I think is so interesting. She's going to college to get her master's degree and she'll be like, I'd like a shopping list with I'm gluten free, with I need it to be healthy. I want it to be this level of calories. And I don't want it to have too many different things that I have to buy. So give me the recipes for a week.

• 20:41Marina Mogilko?

  Yeah.

• 20:41Speaker 03

  And boom. And she's like, mom, it's really good and it really works.

• 20:45Marina Mogilko?

  What's your favorite use case?

• 20:46Speaker 03

  Just the other day, I've been having some shoulder pain. And so I got the test results and of course I get it now on the portal before you, you know, you have anything from back from your doctor. I put it into this time I used chat GPT. And it came back and it's like, yeah, you've got a tendon that's inflamed. And of course, it's my mother who passed away many years ago. But she always used to tell me to sit up straight. And some of it is for, you know, some of my soreness is because of posture. I'm like, okay, my mom, I've got to listen to you. I've got to sit up straight. But I mean, I think I never before I would have waited, you know, to hear from the doctor. And I was able to go in and understand what it is and understand what I need to do to alleviate it. So I mean, just a couple of years ago, you know, you would have had to wait for the doctor.

• 21:29Speaker 03

  So and then, you know, there's the easy one of I look in the fridge. What do we have? Okay, give me something interesting to make.

• 21:35Marina Mogilko?

  Yeah.

• 21:36Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah. You know, that's a really good point. Take a picture even more. So then saying I have this, this and this.

• 21:40Marina Mogilko?

  Yeah.

• 21:40Speaker 03

  I'll do that.

• 21:42Marina Mogilko?

  Do that all the time. What about work processes? What have you optimized with AI for you personally?

• 21:46Speaker 03

  For me, I think it's, it's how do I, you know, write much more quickly? When I'm writing an email or how do I get information if I want to learn something about a new technology? Just asking the question. So boom, I get the information. I can read it as opposed to having. To send it to someone else, say, hey, can you give me a summary of this? So I mean, just so much more information is digestible. It was given back to you in a very digestible format. I'm using it several times today and then also, again, how I do my work.

• 22:17Marina Mogilko?

  Let's get back to factories and workers. If somebody wants to, someone who's inspired by your journey when you started working for GM when you were 18, and now you're the CEO. If somebody wants the same journey and they're thinking, you know what? Entry level jobs being replaced with AI. And how do I repeat this journey in the current environment? What would be your advice?

• 22:37Speaker 03

  Well, first of all, if you want to be in the auto industry, I mean, I would make sure that you get into the core of the business. Joining to work as a manufacturing person in our company. I started as an engineer working in a plant, knowing how. And from when I started over 40 years ago to now, there's so much has advanced in the plants. But understanding what it takes to put a car on the road with high quality, to do it efficiently with an engaged workforce, I think that's so important. So I still, I always encourage people, whatever industry you're excited about, make sure you're in the core of it. You're in how we design vehicles, all the software, how we make vehicles, how we go to market.

• 23:19Speaker 03

  I would, in an industry you're excited about, go in and join a company and really immerse yourself in where they are today. You know, so many people who are graduating from college or, you know, coming in with certificates are, they have so much knowledge already from the way technology, they leveraged it to go through their schooling at whatever level they are. You bring all that and you can immediately say, hey, here's how I can make it better. I was talking a couple of years ago of an employee who joined the company and it was in our finance area. And he had got a job and he said, yeah, I was able to use these tools I used from college and able to take what was usually going to take three days and I could do it in three hours. I mean, I think, so I think what somebody who's starting their career, they have to realize.

• 24:04Speaker 03

  You know, they really have a lot of knowledge in the way they learn to do work that they can bring into the workplace. And that's what we're trying to do right now across many functions of, for instance, in human resources. How do we take some of the things that a human resource professional needs to do that is, you know, getting the data in the right place and getting that information, getting that done more effectively with AI so that person can have more of a high touch with the people that are in the area that he or she is supporting. Those are the things I think we can do that the human connection is going to become more important and the quality of it because the person isn't spending all the time doing some of the more, you know, routine things that they can really understand that person better,

• 24:46Speaker 03

  understand the process better, work for higher quality. I think it's really going to advance.

• 24:51Marina Mogilko?

  What are the personal traits that you're looking for when hiring?

• 24:54Speaker 03

  I think you have to have someone who is passionate about what they do. I also would say, you know, a high quality person, integrity, work hard.

• 25:03Marina Mogilko?

  High quality person.

• 25:05Speaker 03

  Yeah, yes. You know, somebody who, you know, is willing to come in and work hard and wants to learn and, you know, understands that. One of the things I talk about at GMA, we're going to do the right thing even when it's hard. And integrity is such an important piece of it. We talk at General Motors, winning with integrity because if you win without it, you really haven't won. And so people who are aligned with the company's values but are passionate about the work, willing to work hard and curious that they want to learn because technology is advancing in any industry. It's advancing so quickly that if you don't have a learning mindset and a curiosity to like, hmm, how can I make this better? Or I want to go learn about that. I think that to me is what's going to separate and

• 25:46Speaker 03

  empower people to do things and have careers that we can't even imagine right now.

• 25:51Marina Mogilko?

  Is there anything that keeps you up at night in AI?

• 25:54Speaker 03

  Yes. I mean, of course. I mean, I think it's so important to adopt artificial intelligence and all technology responsibly and do it well. But I think as we go forward, companies that say, hey, I'm going to wait. I'll sit this lap out. I'll see how it goes. I think you're going to be so far behind. So to me, it's making sure we're doing the right things and are we? Really engaging our workforce and empowering them as opposed to them being weary of it. I think that's a big piece that we're doing. I feel good about the strategy we have and we've been adaptable. I mean, the world is changing dramatically and in the auto industry from a regulatory perspective, from a supply chain perspective, from a consumer perspective.

• 26:32Marina Mogilko?

  What people are expecting from a vehicle now, right?

• 26:34Speaker 03

  Exactly.

• 26:34Marina Mogilko?

  Because everything is smart suddenly.

• 26:36Speaker 03

  It is, so I think I have a healthy paranoia about that to make sure we're on the cutting edge. I send a lot of emails to my team or see them and say, what are we thinking about this? Or have you thought about this? Or are we aware of this? And nine times out of 10, or I should say 99 times out of 100, like, yes, we're on it. We're already doing that. But I'm going to keep asking those questions because I think it's so important. And I think General Motors is an iconic company and I want to make sure it's here 100 years from now.

• 27:01Marina Mogilko?

  Yeah.

• 27:02Speaker 03

  And the only way we're going to do that is by making sure we leverage and embrace technology responsibly.

• 27:10Marina Mogilko?

  When everything's going on, when you're looking at everything happening, what helps you stay grounded and stay focused?

• 27:16Speaker 03

  Oh, gosh.

• 27:17Marina Mogilko?

  Any rituals?

• 27:19Speaker 03

  You know, for me, obviously, I work hard, but my family. You know, I'm blessed, I've been married for 40 years to my husband. We met right, we met in college and, you know, and so just I think what grounds me and what re-energizes me is spending time with my family and friends.

• 27:39Marina Mogilko?

  Is there like certain limit that you say like, I spend weekends with my family, evenings are family? Do you have something like that?

• 27:45Speaker 03

  I think you have to be more flexible, but one of the things I try to do on, I try to make sure I'm pretty much up to, you know, have everything done as I kind of close the laptop on Friday evening. And then I try to not be, you know, glued to my phone or my computer on Saturday just to get a chance to recharge. And then usually Sunday afternoon, I'm starting to prepare for the next week. But I find that time, just even, you know, if it's a half a day or a day to take that breath, it recharges me to think about things differently. And, you know, literally when I get back to something, I'll be like, oh, you know what? I'll look at it and I'll see something, you know, different. I'll look at it from a different perspective. That I think allows me to be more effective. And I encourage people to find what recharges them.

• 28:29Speaker 03

  But I think in today's age, you have to, there's things that are happening so quickly. You can't just say, oh, Friday afternoon to Monday morning, I'm never gonna look. It's just, I don't think it's the world we're living in.

• 28:39Marina Mogilko?

  So you still have to compromise, you have to work.

• 28:41Speaker 03

  But you do, I would say on the flip side, you do have to make sure you're finding that way that you recharge. Or you're, you know, one of the things as a working mom, you know, people, somebody gave me really great advice and said, sometimes the most urgent, or often the most urgent is not the most important.

• 28:56Marina Mogilko?

  That's 100% true.

• 28:57Speaker 03

  And so, right, and so you have to, you know, step back and say, am I constantly letting what appears to be the most urgent, take me away that I'm never doing what's the most important? Because I know you have two young little girls, is it Lily and Emily?

• 29:10Marina Mogilko?

  Oh, wow, yes.

• 29:11Speaker 03

  Yes, and Precious, they're, they're, they're little, right?

• 29:15Marina Mogilko?

  Yeah, yeah, we just got a puppy for them, so.

• 29:18Speaker 03

  Oh, my gosh, what kind of puppy did you get?

• 29:19Marina Mogilko?

  A toy poodle.

• 29:20Speaker 03

  Oh, my God, we have a dog, Hunter, and he's, he's, I think such an important part of the family as well. But I mean, I think your, your children grow up quickly and you don't get a do-over. So I also, as a, as a working mom, as, you know, there's times in my career where I did, what some people would say were crazy things to make sure I was at that soccer game or at that hockey game, and then was still able to get my work done. So I look back and I'm glad I made those investments and trade-offs.

• 29:49Marina Mogilko?

  That's great, and what about your relationship with your husband? Forty years, that's a lot, and I need tips, especially when, you know, you have this job and you're traveling all the time. What's, what's the best tip that you can give for women who are trying to build their career but also be a good wife?

• 30:04Speaker 03

  Well, you know, I'm, I'm really fortunate that my husband and I, we kind of build our careers together. And he's a, he's an engineer with an MBA and worked in consulting much, much of his career. And so he understands the business really well. And, you know, he can be a great sounding board, he's also a great supporter. So I'm very fortunate to have a husband who, you know, I feel like it's a partnership. And I'm really proud of everything he's accomplished, he's proud of me, and. But we also, we can give each other good, good quality feedback and sometimes we need it.

• 30:39Marina Mogilko?

  Support system, that's awesome. I know it's hard to choose your favorites, but what's your favorite GM car?

• 30:45Speaker 03

  Yeah, that is really hard for me because I, I had the opportunity to run global product development. So I felt like every vehicle in the portfolio played such a special role. I would say though, right now I love driving a Hummer EV.

• 31:00Marina Mogilko?

  Oh my god, that car.

• 31:01Speaker 03

  I love driving that vehicle. Well, it's got four wheel steer, so it's so maneuverable. And I feel like when I'm driving a Hummer EV, I get some respect, you know, people are like, hey.

• 31:10Marina Mogilko?

  I definitely saw those looks when you gave me the car for like a week to drive around. People still come down like, a girl.

• 31:16Speaker 03

  Yeah, like, yeah.

• 31:19Marina Mogilko?

  Definitely got those looks, that's awesome.

• 31:22Speaker 03

  But I'm also a big fan of Corvettes. So, you know, I love, love the styling, the speed and the heritage. And one of the things that makes Corvette so special is it, you know, the, it's true American. It's affordable, it's a Chevrolet. But, you know, people come to me now and they'll say like, oh my gosh, Mary. This vehicle is as good as a vehicle that is three times as expensive. Like, you know, really General Motors has cracked the code on this type of performance. So that's, that's always rewarding.

• 31:50Marina Mogilko?

  Yeah, and I have a weird question, but you're the person to ask it.

• 31:53Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 31:54Marina Mogilko?

  Flying cars.

• 31:55Speaker 03

  Um, you know, there's some physics involved in that. You know, from like, you know, there's companies working on vertical takeoff type of vehicles.

• 32:06Speaker 03

  You know, I would never say never because I think we're innovating and, and new technologies are coming every day. But I think right now I'm going to stay on the road.

• 32:15Marina Mogilko?

  Just, is it because of the technology or just what I'm thinking? Like, do I want to drive and then have a couple more layers of cars above me? That from the safety standpoint, that's weird. If somebody crashes, then it's.

• 32:26Speaker 03

  Right, well, I think about that today with all that's happening with drones. And so, you know, and how they're, how, you know, the, the government, you know, FAA is managing airspace. And about what levels, so like I said, I don't, I, I never say never. Cause I think we'll continue to advance. I grew up watching the Jetsons. So who knows what we'll see in the future. But I think there are, there's, there's challenges like you're talking from, you know, who gets what space. And I think there's some technology challenges, but I think in the future, probably, you know, people will solve those challenges.

• 32:59Marina Mogilko?

  Thank you so much, Mary. It was such a great conversation.

• 33:02Speaker 03

  Thank you. And thanks for the time you've invested in spending in our vehicles. I'm glad that you love your Escalade.

• 33:07Marina Mogilko?

  The best time. I love my Escalade. I enjoyed the Vistik, the Hummer and Buick. Because

• 33:13Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 33:14Marina Mogilko?

  The super cruise. I'm like, the Buick can now go by itself. I didn't expect that.

• 33:18Speaker 03

  Yes. I, you know, Buick has been growing from a share perspective and I'm really proud of, because it really stands for premium luxury for someone who maybe doesn't want what Cadillac stands for of true luxury. And I'm so proud of that. I'm proud of that brand and how the product portfolio is really continuing to gain share and conquest customers for us, which is, which is wonderful.

• 33:40Marina Mogilko?

  When, when we got the Buick, my daughter entered it and she was like, is that a Maybach?

• 33:44Speaker 03

  Oh, my God. I like her. Yeah. And I saw her review of the Vistik. It was precious. Thank you.

• 33:51Marina Mogilko?

  She loves it. Thanks a lot.

• 33:53Speaker 03

  All right. Well, thanks.

• 33:54Speaker 06

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• 34:24Speaker 05

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• 34:53Marina Mogilko?

  Thank you.