General Motors has announced that Dan Ammann has been appointed as CEO of Cruise, the autonomous vehicle tech company it acquired in 2016.

The move is seen as part of a strategy towards commercializing autonomous vehicle technology. Alongside Ammann, Cruise co-founder Kyle Vogt, Cruise co-founder, help to set strategic direction for the company and will lead technology development as Cruise president and chief technology officer. The appointments are effective Jan. 1, 2019.

Under Vogt’s leadership, Cruise is seen as becoming a recognized leader in the field of autonomous vehicle technology, having grown from 40 employees to more than 1,000 at its San Francisco headquarters.

Cruise also recently announced an additional expansion of 100-200 employees in Seattle, Wash. With recent investments by SoftBank and Honda, Cruise’s valuation has rapidly grown to $14.6 billion.

“These appointments further demonstrate our commitment to transforming mobility through the safe deployment of self-driving technology and move us closer to our vision for a future with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion,” said GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra. “As we move toward commercial deployment, adding Dan to the strong team led by Kyle is the next step.”

As GM President, Ammann spearheaded the 2016 Cruise acquisition and, among his other global responsibilities, oversaw GM’s relationship with Cruise.

“I’m excited to dedicate 100 percent of my time and energy to helping Kyle and the entire team realize our mission of deploying this technology at scale,” said Ammann.

“Dan’s been my partner since General Motors’ initial investment in Cruise and I am thrilled he has agreed to join us full-time,” said Vogt. “Dan’s thorough understanding of our mission and his operational expertise make him the perfect fit to lead Cruise into commercial deployment.”

With Ammann’s appointment, GM’s global regions and GM Financial will now report directly to Mary Barra.