Ford CEO Mark Fiels is officially set to join IBM's board of directors on March 1.
Fields had a brief working history at IBM, where he used to be in the company's sales and marketing department at a time when he was about to start attending Harvard Business School.
"We are pleased that Mark will be joining the IBM board of directors," said Ginni Rometty, president, chairman and CEO of IBM. "Mark led the highly successful transformation of his company in a competitive industry where technology has driven innovation. He is leading Ford into a future where cars are not only vehicles, but increasingly becoming mobile technology platforms. His knowledge and insights in running a complex global business will make a significant contribution to IBM."
Under Fields' leadership, Ford entered a number of mergers, partnerships and acquisitions as part of the company's initiatives in breaking the traditional car ownership.
One of the company's current focuses is developing its autonomous driving technology, with ambitious plans to increase the test fleet size of its self-driving cars by up to three times.
Earlier, Ford also reportedly formed a collaboration with IBM for the development of a parking locator app as an essential component of its Smart Mobility Experimentation Platform.
Tech Times previously reported that Ford is working on refining its parking space prediction technology that aims to benefit not only car owners, but also the city on enforcing its parking directives.
"When a driver is looking for a parking space, the technology will provide insight into parking spots that are available and legal to use - allowing the driver to avoid wasting fuel driving around looking for a valid place to park," Ford and IBM said at the time, in a joint press release statement.
As more carmakers become increasingly focused on self-driving cars, the future of car ownership may bring major changes. Faced with potential threats from upcoming new players in Silicon Valley, Ford is turning its focus on other options such as car-sharing in order to meet the consumers' changing transportation needs in the future.
"IBM is a global company with a rich history of innovation and disrupting its business model to deliver results - which is very complementary to what we are doing at Ford," said Ford spokesman Mike Moran. "Mark will bring unique insights at IBM and his experience and new relationships serving on the IBM board will bring equal benefits back to Ford."
