General Motors CEO Mary Barra on Embracing AI, GM's 'Barbie' Cameo, and the Power of Female Buyers

Striding into my office a few days ago in a sharp red suit, fresh off the reveal of GM's new electric Escalade IQ, Mary Barra had a lot on her mind. The future of cars and the people who make them, sure, but a broader future too, where AI plays a major role in our collective success and where women drive more than just the auto market (which, yes, we already do). Also where she can finally see Taylor Swift's Eras tour.

Since stepping into her role as General Motors' first female CEO nearly 10 years ago, Barra has pushed the legacy company to evolve at a time when younger generations of consumers demand both technological sophistication and dramatically reduced ecological impact. It's meant she hasn't had a ton of extra time—reader, she skipped the Barbie premiere!!—but she made some to sit down with me at Cosmo headquarters and go deep on where she's been and where we're all headed.

The fact that you started your career at GM and worked your way from intern to CEO is rare and remarkable. Can you shed some light on what it is about you that enabled that to happen? Did you employ any strategies that you think would be helpful for young women to know today?

I think it starts with the way I was raised. Neither of my parents had the opportunity to go to college, but they were both hardworking. My dad was a skilled dye maker at General Motors. So he actually made the dyes that stamped the metal that shaped the cars, and I grew up around the business.

My mom was kind of fierce, she just was like, "You can do anything you want to do.” So at 18 years old, when I was in an assembly plant, I didn't look around and go, “Oh, I am the only one who's a woman here,” I was just like, well, she said if I work hard, I can do it. Most people, they say "I cannot be what I cannot see." My mother just was like, "You work hard. You belong there."

There's been a lot of research in the U.S. where women don't go for it. So if there's a job that has 10 requirements or suggested skills that you should have, a woman will read it and go, "Oh, I have nine total. I guess I can't."

I say this all the time. Don't edit yourself out of the running.

Exactly. And a man will say, "I've got five or six. I'm going to go for it." My message to women is that you should go for it even if you have five or six, because you're going to learn in the process. Too often, women take themselves out of the running before they even get to the starting line.

So now that you're at the top, what's your leadership style?

I think I'm inclusive, but I also just believe that people don't care until they know that you care. If you really win their hearts and minds, and they understand what we're doing, why we're so passionate about it, and what we want to accomplish, they're going to work harder. So I think it's inclusive and it's investing so people understand.

You really have to paint the picture for every employee to grasp how their role contributes to where you're going. Once they get that, they're going to be more motivated to work harder to go that extra mile—I see that all the time.

That's one of the secret strengths of General Motors. People look at it and say, “Oh, it's this company that's over a hundred years old, and it's in this manufacturing environment." But 40% of our technical talent has been with the company for less than five years.

There are a lot of millennials and Gen Zs, and they bring a different energy. In a very positive way, they hold you accountable. I find that energizing.

I'll be honest, I didn't even want to ask you today, "What is it like being the first female CEO of GM?" I'm tired of asking that question of women.

Right!

And hopefully it doesn't factor into your life. It's just that you are a CEO and that's that.

When I first got this job, it was the hardest question. People, they'd say to me, "You're the first woman CEO." And I'm like...

And?

Yeah. Is that a statement or a question? But what I have learned, is because I've had so many people come up to me and say, "Mary, my daughter is now studying math and science or wants to be an engineer because seen what you've been able to do." I began to really respect the role of being that person when a young girl says: "Look, she did it, why can't I?" We do a lot in STEM education. Because I believe no matter what business you're in, technology is changing the way work is done and the way people consume your product, or what they expect of your product or your service. And so you don't need to know how to code, but you should have a foundational understanding, no matter what you're studying and what your role is.

I've read that one of your focuses is that you want to shift the perspective of GM from a car company to a tech company. What does that mean to you?

Well, if you think about the vehicle, it really is a software platform. Already today, it has hundreds of millions of lines of code that run the vehicle. We just hired a tremendous talent, Mike Abbott from Apple, and he's really kind of driving that software-first mentality. So this is one of the most exciting times in the business.

How are you thinking about AI for your work and for the world?

I think one of the most significant applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning is autonomous driving. And we own 80% of Cruise, which is now operating in five cities and expanding almost weekly.

We're seeing more and more content from people inside the cars being like, "Oh my God, this is crazy."

Well, they do that the first time, especially because right now, they're in a Bolt EV that we've modified to be an autonomous vehicle. They can literally see the steering wheel turning in the front with no one there. That first moment is like...and then they see how smooth the ride is, they see how confident the system is in driving the vehicle. And two to three minutes in they're like, "So where are we going to dinner? How was your day?"

It’s funny when people say they will never get in an autonomous vehicle, or they're afraid of it or they're wary of it. A lot of times, I'll say to people, "How many people have been in an Uber?" And virtually everyone raises their hand. I’ll say, "There are times where the cleanliness of the vehicle, the music you're listening to, the fact that you don't have privacy..." There’ve literally been times I've said to an Uber driver, "Would you please pay attention?" Because I worry you can get into a car accident. The ride in our autonomous vehicle is so smooth, and it's so confident. It's not like the early days where people would cut it off. It's assertive where it needs to be, so cars don't constantly go in front of it. But it knows all the traffic laws. It knows when you're in a school zone. It's just this confident ride.

I should send you the video I saw yesterday. This guy was scared at first, and then he was like, "Oh, she's a better driver than I am."

Yeah, exactly. Well, and the other cool thing that they've done is they've named the car. So my very first autonomous ride was in Tostada. And people will... Literally, people will wave goodbye. It's an empty car.

I love that they've kind of humanized the experience that you're riding in Tostada. And I have to admit, every time I go into the parking area where we have them prep when I'm out there, I'm always looking like, where's Tostada?

So you ride in them sometimes?

Oh yes, many times.

What's the use case for you?

Well, usually when I'm in San Francisco. We've leveraged the vehicles to go to dinner if we're going to have a dinner, or to get back to the hotel. When I'm out there, we regularly use them.

We're in this moment in culture where there's a lot of hand-wringing about what AI is going to do. But I think your analogy is a good one: Once you ride in it, so to speak, then you get it, and there's a comfort level. I hope we see more of that over time.

I definitely think we will. We just had a session with our senior leadership team to look at all the areas in the business where people already have been, and now even see a bigger opportunity to apply AI, to make the business more efficient. If we don't, others will. I try to tell everybody, it's going to be how you do your job with AI. If you just say no to the technology...that’s probably the fastest path to not be relevant.

My hope is that the conversation isn't just about efficiency, but that it can also be about creativity, and can be about AI enabling us to do things we can't otherwise do, like, for the media industry, creating personalized content at scale.

I think that's a really good point. It is going to be efficient, but potentially higher quality. And I think we've even seen this. This is a small example, but I remember I was talking to an intern in our finance department a couple of years ago, and they said, "Okay, my role is to do this. And once a week, as we got to the close of the quarter, I was supposed to take a week and do this work." And they were able to use bots and other things. And they took what was initially going to take 40 hours down to four. That gave them more time to do value-add work. So I think that's the spirit. Let technology do that, so you do more value-adding.

So obviously, the Barbie movie's everywhere, and there's a really strong GM presence in the movie because of Barbie's classic Corvette. I heard that when the trailer premiered, interest in Barbie-esque Corvette models spiked. Have you seen any sales results from the movie so far?

I think we don't make that pink Corvette, which we have seen social media interest in and people wanting that. Even our CFO's daughter said, "Can I get that car?" I'm like, "Sorry, no." But no, I think the vehicles are showcased really well.

But one of the most important things is the fact that generally, U.S. women decide or influence 80% of new car purchases. And so to be at the forefront in the Barbie movie…I still have my Barbies! My daughter and I actually went to see the movie together and she's 24.

What'd you think of the movie?

We both enjoyed it. It was layered. It was a really special moment for us, but I'm proud because I think it really has started a positive conversation. And also, in this country, there's so much tension and polarization. I feel like the Barbie movie, you can just go and you can take it at whatever level you want. There's a bunch of it that's fun, and there's a part of it that's silly, and there's a part that's serious. I thought it was good for the summer and for the country.

There's some nice connectivity between that and the Taylor Swift Eras tour, which has, of course, swept the nation, and now the world.

And I'm a Swiftie, by the way. I haven't been able to go yet. She just added tickets! My daughter is trying to get on the list.

I could have gone in Detroit, but we were in Paris that week because it was the first time Cadillac had raced the 24 hours of Le Mans. I was kind of like, okay, I really want to see Taylor Swift, but I’ll have more opportunities. And this was the first time we were in Le Mans, so...

You can catch her later.

I'm going to try! Because if I don't get to see it, it'll be the first Taylor Swift concert I haven't been to, from when she was doing the big stadium tours.

Yes, we must rectify this! So with Barbie, you weren't involved in the movie at all?

I was aware of it because we have this partnership with Mattel. All throughout its development, we were talking about it, and I was sent pictures as the movie was being developed. I actually could have gone to the premiere. When my daughter found that out, she was like, "Seriously, mom?" And I'm like, "I know, but..." I kind of regret not doing that. But I’ve been being updated all the way along with it, so I was pretty excited.

You mentioned women influencing the majority of car purchases in the United States. But women have historically been very underserved by car marketing, even by the car industry in general. I'm curious what GM's approach is to serving women consumers.

Well, I think one of the things that we accelerated greatly during the beginning days of COVID-19 was the ability to do everything online. Then, that takes away that walk into the showroom. Although I have to say, I feel our dealers are our strength. They are independent business people. We've done a lot of work to make sure they understand the customer has changed, is changing. I think there is a stereotype of a car dealer that doesn't match what the majority is today.

We also have insights. For instance, a woman, in general, wants to know what she can afford. She doesn't want to go in and fall in love with a Blazer and realize what's better for her budget is an Equinox. They want to know ahead of time so that when they go in, they're not going to have that uncomfortable moment. So now, as you do the online process, you can pre-qualify. So you know exactly what you're going to be able to afford before you get there and when you walk in.

Generally what we found is men don't care. They're less sensitive to being told, "Okay, no, that's really not really in the range of affordability for you. How about this?" Women don't like that. So just understanding how they go through the sales process and making sure how we do it online fits how they want to be served.

It seems not just gendered, but generational. What we know about younger consumers is that they prefer to do everything online.

Right. But then again, these insights are different. A lot of my generation, that age cohort wants to go in and literally kick the tires.

And that's why we talk with our dealers, and we've worked on a whole new system that's now piloted on the Bolt, and now is rolling out with all the Cadillac EVs—it meets you where you want to be, whether you want to do part online, all online, or all at the dealer.

You have a lot of responsibility, and it's all incredibly varied. Do you have any tricks for how you stay on top of it all and stay sane in the process?

Well, we have a great team. You have to have a great team—and specifically an aligned team—because you have to be able to delegate. I work with an outside coach to build a high-performance team and on making sure we're aligned. Because if you think about it, at the top of any company, if we're not aligned, it causes friction and misdirection that cascades down the organization.

And then I am a big believer, through some of the experiences I've had in my 40 years at General Motors, that you've got to do the right thing even when it's hard. I think too many people think they have a decision to make in those cases when there really is no decision. There's only one right thing to do. The one thing I say to our employees all the time is, "When's the best time to solve a problem?" And they'll kind of look at me, and I go, "The minute you know you have one." Problems don't get smaller. They only get bigger, and they can sometimes get so big that you maybe will cease to exist. So solve problems when they're small.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

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