Burns oversaw GM's advanced technology, innovation programs, and corporate strategy.
He has been a leading advocate for design and technology innovation focused on the total customer experience and the application of operations research before his retirement in 2009.
[2] He is the author of Autonomy: The Quest to Build the Driverless Car—And How It Will Reshape Our World and a co-author of Reinventing the Automobile: Personal Urban Mobility for the 21st Century.
[3] In 2011, Burns was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering[4] for leadership and technical contributions to automotive technologies.
His clients include Waymo (previously Google Self-Driving Cars), Peloton Technology and Kitson & Partners.