Jane Wu’s title of treasurer at Aptiv hardly does justice to what the New Jersey native has been helping the auto parts company do over the past two years. The 39-year-old former investment banker has led a New York-based Aptiv team to identify and execute mergers, acquisitions and partnerships to improve its position as a supplier of advanced vehicle technologies, autonomous driving and safety systems. 

This year, the company closed on one of her team’s most audacious achievements: Aptiv’s 50-50 autonomous-driving joint venture with South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group, a $4 billion endeavor that marries Aptiv’s engineering and R&D with Hyundai’s own engineering resources, its cash and its urgent desire to prepare its vehicles for Level 4 and Level 5 autonomous technologies.

The deal is a coup for Aptiv, the former Delphi Automotive Systems. Wu has made it possible for Aptiv to define a new role with Hyundai, cracking the otherwise airtight relationship between the automaker and its affiliated global supplier, Hyundai Mobis. 

Other deals are helping to position Aptiv for a broader role in the years to come, as it picks its spots in software, advanced telematics and signaling. But Wu clarifies that she is not the final deal-maker — that’s the role of Aptiv’s CEO and board. Her job, she explains, is simply to put Aptiv in the room with new opportunities.