Mike Abbott, a former executive at Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), was appointed by General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM) on Tuesday to head a division combining three software roles under the business.

Abbott will lead the development of enterprise and automotive software technologies as of May 22.

Automakers like GM and Ford Motor (NYSE:F) Co. have been boosting their spending on technology and software services to profit from subscription-based services.

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

Abbott oversaw a team at Apple that created the foundational framework for the organization’s cloud-based services, such as iCloud, iMessage, Private Relay, Mail, and account security.

According to a March story from Bloomberg News, Abbott would leave his position at the iPhone manufacturer. Before that, he was a partner at venture capital company Kleiner Perkins and had executive roles at Twitter and Palm.

Ford, a Detroit-based rival, announced the appointment of Doug Field, the director of Apple’s automobile project, to manage its advanced technology and embedded systems initiatives about two years before GM’s announcement.