• An autonomous-vehicle company needs a talented software team, a lot of money, and close ties to a car company to become a major player in the industry, according to Karl Iagnemma, the CEO of Hyundai and Aptiv's autonomous-vehicle joint venture.
• Aptiv, Cruise, and Argo AI are the only companies that have all three, he said.
• Aprtiv and Hyundai plan to have an automated-driving platform available to ride-sharing services, fleet operators, and automakers by 2022 while also building their own self-driving vehicles.
• Are you a current or former Aptiv employee? Do you have an opinion about what it's like to work there? Contact this reporter at mmatousek@businessinsider.com, on Signal at 646-768-4712, or via his encrypted email address mmatousek@protonmail.com.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

An autonomous-vehicle company needs three things to become a "credible" competitor in the industry, said Karl Iagnemma, the CEO of Hyundai and Aptiv's autonomous-vehicle joint venture: a strong software-development team, vast financial resources of at least $1 billion, and a close relationship with an automaker. According to Iagnemma, only three companies meet those criteria: Aptiv, Cruise (which is owned by General Motors), and Argo AI (which is working with Ford and Volkswagen).

"Beyond that, I think it's difficult to find those three ingredients all together," he said in an interview with Business Insider.

By Iagnemma's standards, Aptiv joined that group last year, when the automotive-technology company and Hyundai announced a joint venture, formally known as the Hyundai-Aptiv Autonomous Driving Joint Venture, to which Aptiv will contribute automated-driving software while Hyundai focuses on vehicle engineering and production. The companies plan to have an automated-driving platform available to ride-sharing services, fleet operators, and automakers by 2022 while also building their own self-driving vehicles.

Hyundai's reputation for reliability and affordability made the automaker well-suited to developing vehicles designed for autonomous mobility services, Iagnemma said. When you're operating a fleet of vehicles, he added, the price you pay for each vehicle and the amount of time it spends on the road are major contributors to your bottom line.

Aptiv has become increasingly focused on those kinds of practical details while giving rides to paying customers in Las Vegas through Lyft's network (two safety operators sit in each vehicle to monitor its performance and take control if necessary). The company is also testing its automated-driving technology in cities like Boston, Pittsburgh, and Singapore. Aptiv has placed on emphasis on ensuring its sensors and computing hardware are reliable and durable enough to last thousands of miles while beginning to focus more on the financial implications of its software-development process.

Software engineers tend to be drawn to projects with exciting technical characteristics without always weighing their benefits from a business perspective, Iagnemma said. When deciding which driving capabilities to work on, Aptiv now thinks primarily about how they would increase the number of routes an autonomous ride-hailing vehicle could handle. 

"Every single feature we analyze from this perspective of the business opportunity that it creates for us," he said.

Aptiv has also begun to rethink its approach to passenger safety amid the coronavirus pandemic. Safety used to be synonymous with minimizing crashes, but Aptiv is now considering how to keep passengers from making their vehicle's future occupants sick. The company is exploring different ways to disinfect vehicles, from ultraviolet lights to chemical mists.

"Our definition of 'safe' has changed," Iagnemma said.

Are you a current or former Aptiv employee? Do you have an opinion about what it's like to work there? Contact this reporter at mmatousek@businessinsider.com, on Signal at 646-768-4712, or via his encrypted email address mmatousek@protonmail.com.

• Read more:
• The CEO of Hyundai and Aptiv's autonomous-vehicle joint venture reveals the biggest mistake managers make when hiring new employees
• Amazon's $1.2 billion deal to buy Zoox shows just how hard building a self-driving car still is —and why even more startups could become buyout targets
• The self-driving car startup Zoox has less money and experience than Waymo. Here's why its CTO thinks it has an edge over the Google spinoff.
• Tesla is transforming how cars are sold. But 27 insiders say the company's methods mean slashed pay and living in constant fear of getting laid off.

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