Big break: Accelerating the rollout of the Super Cruise hands-free driving-assist technology and enhancing its features

Fresh out of college, Jeff Miller started a coveted job as an engineer in General Motors’ high-performance car group. Less than a year later, GM filed for bankruptcy protection, and Miller's role on the team was eliminated.

GM gave him a choice: Find a job elsewhere or take a position within the automaker’s program management and planning organization.

It was an unexpected change for a new engineer, but “in hindsight, it’s been a blessing,” Miller said. “Being able to go through the planning and program management side of the business helped me really develop a knowledge of how to execute a program from start to finish.”

Miller made his way back to the engineering world, working on hybrids and the Chevrolet Corvette and Camaro. Since then, he’s taken his program management chops to Super Cruise, GM’s hands-free driver-assist technology.

Super Cruise “is where my career has projected me exponentially because I have been more customer- and media-facing,” he said. “It got me out of a comfortable space, working in an engineering community to now being out with customers.”

Miller and his team have expanded Super Cruise availability to nine nameplates and added features such as automatic lane change, lane change on demand and trailering. GM plans to make Super Cruise available on 22 nameplates by the end of next year. 

“We’re not going to stand still. We realize that space is changing and it’s changing quickly,” he said. “The way that Super Cruise has been engineered, it’s almost modular. We could take it from one vehicle to the next with minor tweaks and minor adjustments. I’m really proud of how the team has been able to engineer that and how we’re handling the launches.”

Still, the global microchip shortage has been a “punch in the gut” as the Super Cruise team planned the expanded rollout, he said.

Miller has been leading an initiative to use parts more strategically. He suggested that the team use low-supply parts in development vehicles only when absolutely necessary. 

“We’ve been able to reduce part usages in development, which then frees up supply to build vehicles for our customers,” Miller said.

— Hannah Lutz