Mercedes-Benz Chief Software Officer Magnus Östberg to depart

Magnus Östberg, the Chief Software Officer at Mercedes-Benz, is leaving the company in August 2026 for personal reasons. Since joining on September 1, 2021, Östberg has been responsible for establishing software as an independent development discipline and spearheading the transition toward software-defined vehicles.

His departure occurs at a critical juncture as the company works to scale its proprietary operating system, MB. OS. This architecture is designed to decouple software from hardware, connecting everything from drive systems to infotainment through a chip-to-cloud framework. The system is set to debut in series production with the electric CLA model on the new MMA platform.

Östberg was the first to hold this role, which was created by CEO Ola Källenius to transform the brand from a hardware manufacturer into a software-driven entity. While the foundational phase of MB. OS has been completed, the successor to his position has not yet been announced.