Leavey Alumni Jenna Mcloughlin Helping to Steer the Future of Transportation

Self-driving cars are still in the early phases of changing transportation, but what once seemed like a futuristic vision is now a reality. Leavey alumni Jenna Mcloughlin’s career path led her to become a leading expert in autonomous ride-hailing technology. She has always sought to follow passion over trends, and her passion is creating equality in transportation that is both accessible and sustainable.

After graduating from the Leavey School of Business, Mcloughlin started her career at Cisco, working on the Internet of Things where the goal was to make cities and companies smarter. Her work on energy management and utilizing tracers to reduce the energy consumption of large machinery first sparked her interest in climate change and sustainability.

Inspired by hearing tennis great Venus Williams speak at a conference and advise attendees that “if you ever get too comfortable, make yourself uncomfortable,” Mcloughlin left the stability of Cisco for the pre-IPO world of Lyft. Mcloughin says, “the fast, agile, scrappy environment was exciting.”

Despite deep-rooted ties to traditional transportation—her grandfather was a taxi driver in Ireland—Mcloughlin saw Lyft as a force for change. Facing criticism from the taxi industry, she remained steadfast in her belief that Lyft was democratizing work, empowering individuals to be their own bosses and control their income. She explains, “Lyft saw themselves making this form of work more accessible, so anyone could be their own boss and make the money they wanted on the schedule they wanted.”

She took yet another leap about a year later, moving from the security of the finance department at Lyft to the autonomous vehicle division, contrary to the advice of Lyft’s CFO. It was a leap of faith that proved life-changing: “I was more passionate about what I was doing than anything I had done before in my career—it was incredibly exciting to be at the forefront of autonomous ride-hailing technology,” she reflects.

Mcloughin predicts that autonomous vehicles (AVs) will supplement the ride-hailing industry but not replace it. The industry will evolve and new business will be created as companies figure out how to lease AV cars at a daily/hourly rate and solve parking challenges. But with AV cars dramatically reducing accidents, fatalities, and carbon emissions, they are a major part of the future of transportation.

Now, as VP of Business Development and Operations at Flix, Mcloughlin is turning her attention to another sector primed for disruption—buses. She sees buses as a critical component of sustainable transportation, reducing car dependency while enhancing accessibility. “Flix is also a disruptor,” she explains. “They looked at what Lyft and Uber did to taxis and aim to do the same for the bus industry—optimizing everything from route planning to station support.”

Flix, a Munich-based intercity bus company, recently acquired Greyhound, a brand synonymous with American bus travel for nearly a century. McLoughlin describes the merger as “an interesting juxtaposition—Greyhound, an industry fixture with deep roots, and Flix, a fast-growing startup disrupting the space.” Now, she is embracing a new career challenge, eager to help Flix evolve from a nimble disruptor into a household name in the U.S.

Mcloughin is grateful for the career opportunities that Leavey and Santa Clara have helped provide. She started college at NYU and transferred to Leavey to “be in the orbit of Silicon Valley.” While potential jobs post-college were an essential factor in that decision, she was impressed with the extent of the local tech executives that students could meet in the classroom, both actual professors and guest speakers.

She recalls Ross Meyercord, who served as the COO of North America Sales at Salesforce, meeting with students over coffee and handing out his phone number after guest speaking. Mcloughlin appreciates the real-world experience that the Leavey teachers and speakers brought from cutting-edge tech companies to the classroom, saying, “There’s not many places besides Silicon Valley where you can get that.”