How this CTO is changing the way we buy and finance cars

Hours spent at the dealership to buy and finance a car are numbered — at least if AutoGravity has anything to do with it. It’s good news for anyone who’s ever had to wait for hours to finance a car: The app helps consumers browse hundreds of thousands of cars and qualify for up to four financing offers on a car in just minutes, getting their monthly payment squared away even before they roll up to the car dealership. It speeds up the process of car-buying for both dealers and buyers, and informs customers about their financing options before they sign on the dotted line.

More than one million customers have downloaded AutoGravity, and much of that success can be credited to one woman: Sheng Wang. Now the CTO of AutoGravity, Wang — who comes from a product background at companies like Disney, Microsoft, and eBay — led the product development of the app and helped launch the award-winning platform. As more consumers look to their phones to make big-ticket purchases, like cars, Wang’s work has helped shape the car-buying experience into a seamless consumer journey, from car selection to delivery. “Sheng is a true master of her trade, a trusted leader with the utmost command of product and engineering, uniquely qualified to take AutoGravity technology to the next level,” said Andy Hinrichs, founder and CEO of AutoGravity, in a press release announcing her promotion to CTO. “Sheng’s authentic, hands-on leadership has been instrumental to our speed and success in setting the pace of digital retailing in the automotive industry.”

Wang says she never aspired to be a CTO, but says she’s excited to “build a great product that the customers love and build an awesome team that shares the same vision and passion.” Learn how Wang got her start in the industry, her tips to success working as a groundbreaking woman in technology, and her vision for the future of automotive fintech.

In order to provide the best customer car-buying experience possible, it’s crucial for the CTO to build a strong team with top talent and state-of-the-art technology. I never really intended to be a CTO. I have a strong passion for building products that can help solve customers’ problems with the best customer experience. I also like knowing the technology trends and how to leverage technology to build the best product. Having an engineering background has been the most helpful when it comes to engineering efforts and bridging the gap between business needs and technical approach.

It is a blessing to have strong funding, as well as connections and trust from a massive brand. It’s also an interesting challenge to align expectations and growth projection.

There’s a major movement in transforming the car-buying experience digitally. We have just started to scratch the surface and there’s a lot more concepts to be vetted and tested to complete this end-to-end transformation, which will require a digital platform to connect the dots between car buyers, dealers and lenders. And AutoGravity is best equipped to lead this charge.

That’s a great question, it’s one I ask myself regularly: How we can create the best customer experience with a secure, scalable, and flexible platform to assimilate massive data and support complex business logic? I believe the technology will advance to enable an Amazon-like car-buying experience within the next two years.

I’m very fortunate to have had opportunities to learn from various industry leaders who helped me to see the broader picture. I’ve been able to adopt best practices from other business arenas and apply them to the automotive industry. For example, I learned from Disney that customer experience is the key to driving user adoption; from Microsoft, eBay and Yahoo, that technological innovation is a must-have to differentiate AutoGravity from the other competitors in the automotive fintech industry.

There are two things I am super excited about: building a great product that the customers love — and building an awesome team that shares the same vision and passion.

I’ve never thought of myself as a role model. I follow a few principles that have helped me in my career: work smart, communicate, be professional, and have integrity. If others follow my lead, then it makes me proud to think I’ve had an impact on people’s lives and outlook.

It’s not enough to just work hard, you also need to work smart. Will I be able to complete each task myself? Do I need help? Who will be the best person to handle this? Who needs to be involved? Should I escalate? There will always be new tasks and challenges each day to embrace, so it’s critical to prioritize work and understand the impact of each task.

Focus on the subject and don’t take things personally. When there’s no clear direction, over-communication is always the way to go. Don’t just bring up an issue; have a solution in mind to attack it head-on.

A professional attitude will not just help with personal image, but will also help to secure buy-ins.

And lastly, don’t promise things that cannot be achieved simply because pressure is being applied from top management. Provide options for leadership to consider, such as reducing scope or adding resources. It might be difficult for them to accept, but it’s worse if their expectations cannot be delivered. I remember once being asked to deliver a project with an impossible timeframe; however, given the complexity of the project, we knew it simply could not be achieved based on the timeline. When I presented a new timeline and options, the senior vice president was very angry that my team was unable to deliver the product and stormed from the meeting room. Despite the SVP’s frustration at my candor, the project turned out to be one of the most successful projects in the organization.

Focus on what the most important thing is: building a product that customers enjoy that helps solve a problem.

In general, tech is mostly male-dominated and it’s harder for women to stand out. Women are more likely to think about team achievements and how they can help the team to be successful. I actually think this is the best trait for building a team, but it is still harder for a woman to shine. I do believe this will be more appreciated over time, with more and more women leading the charge. Also, I share the opinion that women feel it is difficult to have their voices heard. If we stay firm, professional, and consistent, it will get through much easier.

My father always believed that women can achieve as much as men. His words and support have always been a source of inspiration. My father used to say that everyone is unique and we need to leverage our strength to change the world. What we interpret as weakness can sometimes be our ultimate strength as well, so don’t be discouraged with having weaknesses. I believe the environment has changed a lot in the past decade, empowering women to shine and take the lead in any field. We should celebrate the progress and continue to help each other to grow and lead.