If there was ever a time for a global tech supplier to do away with its corporate role of chief technology officer, it probably wouldn’t be now.
But the retirement of Delphi Technologies’ well-known Chief Technology Officer Mary Gustanski at the end of last year prompted the company to try a different approach to C-suite technical guidance as the industry rushes off to new frontiers.
Delphi has formed a technology council to steer the company’s scientific direction, CEO Rick Dauch told Automotive News. It decided on the organizational change last year in preparation for Gustanski’s departure.
Gustanski, 57, was a leading voice in automotive engineering for years.
“You can’t replace Mary with just one person,” said Dauch, who has been at the helm of Delphi Technologies for one year. “Mary played a very integral role in onboarding me to our technologies.”
Gustanski became technology chief following the company’s spinoff from Delphi Automotive in December 2017. Previously she was vice president of engineering and program management for Delphi Automotive. An industry veteran who twice was named one of Automotive News’ 100 Leading Women in the North American Auto Industry, Gustanski was largely responsible for advanced propulsion systems for electrification within the company.
Delphi’s new technical council delegates her responsibilities to several chief engineers. They report to the council alongside other members, including the leaders of the company’s four business units and other company experts focused on manufacturing, quality, aftermarket and more, Dauch said. He is chairman of the council.
Every 90 days, the chief engineers and other experts discuss their advanced programs, market trends, regulation changes, business-unit budgets and customer inquiries as they relate to the changes in Delphi Technologies.
Dauch said the new approach will help break down some technical silos within the company, holds its chief engineers more accountable and makes Delphi more efficient and market-driven.
“Part of our transition has been to learn how to be a stand-alone company,” Dauch said of Delphi’s launch as a spinoff.
“You can’t look at every technical center as a stand-alone technical center; you have to look at it as Delphi Technologies.”
At the same time, Delphi is eliminating the role of chief engineer for light-duty diesel and will expand the role of its chief engineer for gasoline direct-injection technology, Dauch said.
“You’ve got to have a little bit of back-and-forth between your technical centers, your supply chain team, your tooling team, your manufacturing team,” Dauch said.
“Eventually we might have a chief technology officer again. But right now, with everything going on between restructuring our footprint, electrification, transitioning from diesel, we need to do it at my level, basically,” Dauch added. “We’ve got to make our engineers more business-oriented engineers without losing our leadership position in technology.”
Delphi Technologies is preparing for change, but also homing in on innovations in its traditional markets. Over the past year, the supplier has been shifting away from diesels and expanding in gasoline-powered systems. The company has been navigating a move toward electrification in what Dauch says is a “generational technology shift.”
Dauch, who joined the company in January 2018 from wheel component maker Accuride, said he still sees big opportunities for Delphi Technologies despite the industry’s large investments in electric and autonomous vehicle technology.
“Billions of dollars are being wasted across the auto space on certain technologies that are never going to leave very controlled environments,” Dauch said.
“Even if we hit the most aggressive or opportunistic forecast for electrification, electric cars would be 5 to 10 percent pure electric,” Dauch added. ” So we’re going to be building and supplying engines for a long time.”