2022 GMiS Luminary Honorees

When General Motors achieves its vision of zero emissions, zero congestion and zero crashes sometime in the not-to-distant future, they’ll look back on the work Tony Argote is pursuing today as providing the critical foundation for their success.  Mr. Argote leads a global team of over 120 innovative engineers pioneering autonomous and automated driving technology at GM.  He executes advanced technology projects valued at over $20 million, and he’s charged with establishing new business models and joint venture partnerships to speed new technology to market. His leadership has or is enabling the development and delivery of exciting features and services like Super Cruise, Ultra Cruise, Cruise Autonomous Vehicles and Software Defined Vehicles.

Mr. Argote began his career at General Motors as a student participating in the cooperative education program at Georgia Tech, his alma mater. Since that auspicious beginning at GM, he’s made important contributions to multiple critical electrification technologies that have found their way onto several vehicle lines, from compact cars to full-size trucks.  

The son Cuban of immigrants, and the first in his family to graduate from college, Mr. Argote has always maintained a focus on the pursuit of continued education and social responsibility. In the summer of 2009, he joined forces with peers at General Motors to found Green Place Detroit, a non-profit organization focused on volunteering after school and on weekends at predominantly Hispanic middle and high schools in southeast Detroit.

Great Minds in STEM named Mr. Argote its Most Promising Engineer with a Master’s degree in 2013, and it’s safe to say that promise has been fulfilled.