Microsoft came to dominate the computer industry not through desktops, but through its moneymaker Windows. Then Apple became the world's most valuable public company thanks not only to mobile phones, but also to the App Store.

Now, a company like Tesla could be poised to do the same thing to cars, technology investor Marc Andreessen of Andreessen Horowitz told Bloomberg View columnist Barry Ritholtz.

"There's no existing legacy car company in the world today that would say that's the case. They would all say that they are best at making cars, and that the software is a component that goes in the cars," Andreessen said. "Our thesis is, no, what's actually going to happen is the value will flow to the software layer. The entire experience of being in the car will be defined by software."

Andreessen's comments come amid a massive shakeup at Ford, where a new CEO, a self-driving-car expert, was suddenly installed on Monday. The high-profile shuffle, days after Andreessen's interview, highlighted the rise of self-driving vehicles — which rely not only on sensors but also on algorithms that collect data and make predictions.