Apple's project, currently code-named Titan, could likely benefit from the excitement over such a high-profile executive. It could mean that the company is closer to a prototype, or that it's ready to start showing off its progress. Either way, Apple needs to ramp things up if its to remain relevant in the highly-competitive (and scrutinized) arena of self-driving cars. According to The Information's sources, Ms Waydo was the head of systems engineering at Waymo, and was instrumental in the company's tests in Phoenix as well as upgrades that let Waymo remove human backup drivers from vehicles.