Stellantis cockpit technology leader leaving company

Vishnu Sundaram is leaving his job as Stellantis' senior vice president of cockpit and connected services at the end of August.

Sundaram, a key figure in the automaker's quest to develop the cockpit of the future, is leaving "to pursue his own entrepreneurial passion," a Stellantis spokesman said.

He said at a company software event in December 2021 that Stellantis' SmartCockpit platform aims to "transform your vehicle into a personalized living space. It is a more natural way to interact with your vehicle based on a combination of several sensors — touch, voice, glance, gesture."

Sundaram's LinkedIn profile describes his role as advancing Stellantis to be an industry leader in the connected cabin experience. He wrote of using artificial intelligence, machine learning, augmented reality, immersive gaming and cloud services to offer content and services in vehicles.

He joined Stellantis in August 2021 from Harman International, where he was vice president of telematics.

Sundaram was named one of Automotive News' Rising Stars in 2018 while at Harman.

His roles will be assumed by Anantha Krisnan, who will be responsible for the cockpit, and Aravind Doss, who will oversee apps, a spokesperson said.