Ford hires a Twitch and PlayStation veteran to run its digital services

The company says Aragon will lead a team “responsible for building out and marketing a suite of services and experiences” across Ford Pro (business and fleet), Ford Blue (core passenger vehicles), and Ford Model e (electric vehicles). The company says it has more than 800,000 paid subscriptions across its lineup, including for services like its BlueCruise hands-free driving system and fleet management software.

In a press release, Ford CEO Jim Farley says Aragon will help build the company’s early success with integrated services and has “a proven track record of helping great hardware companies create valuable digital ecosystems.” That track record includes the PlayStation Network service and leading Twitch’s content teams.

Aragon is filling a role previously held by Peter Stern, a former Apple services vice president, who helped build Apple’s paid subscription offerings including Apple TV Plus, Fitness Plus, News Plus, and more. Farley had hyped Stern’s hiring in 2023 and mentioned that the industry’s “biggest change” is getting into “digital product and physical services.” Paid subscriptions have become the biggest revenue drivers for companies such as Apple. Stern is now CEO of Peloton, whose key product is a bike with a subscription service.