Laura Merling is vice president of Ford Motor Company Digital Services. In this role, she has responsibility for developing the strategy to deliver world-class digital services globally, and bringing together the company resources required to deliver that strategy. She also is responsible for strategic relationships in this space. Merling was named to the position Aug. 7, 2017.

Prior to this role, Merling served as the vice president of Autonomous Vehicle Solutions for Ford Smart Mobility LLC, a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company formed to accelerate the company’s plans to design, build, grow and invest in emerging mobility services.

Merling came to Ford in October 2016 after running her own consultancy focused on the intersection of hardware, firmware, and software in the Internet of Things. Prior to that, she held several roles leading technological innovation including serving as global general manager and executive vice president of Internet of Things for SAP. In this role, Merling led the go-to-market strategy for the Internet of Things business.

Prior to SAP, Merling served as vice president, enterprise digital transformation for AT&T. In this role, she led the enterprise customer innovation program, launching big data and Internet of things solutions. In addition, Merling launched groundbreaking web services including the Mobile Identity Toolkit, and the company’s cloud based voice platform, while also developing business automation solutions and leading complex partnerships

Merling also worked with Alcatel-Lucent as their senior vice president of Applications Platforms and Application Enablement, with Mashery as their vice president of sales and marketing, with Krugle, Inc as their vice president of marketing and business development and as executive director and chief executive officer for Silicon Valley Forum.

Merling began her career in 1989 as a technology analyst with TechTeam Global, working on key projects for Ford Motor Company, including the launch of the company’s first online configurator for the F-Series trucks and the first use of electronic medical records in the company’s US assembly plants.

In addition to her role at Ford, Merling serves in an advisory role for several startups working on Internet of Things connectivity, machine learning and digital manufacturing. These include Wivity, Thin Systems, Alluvium.io, and Authentise.