It's something she's done before. Jeffrey Sprecher, CEO of Intercontinental Exchange Inc., owner of the New York Stock Exchange, says Aiyengar has been helpful as they considered unique ideas, including the company's foiled attempt at a tieup with a different kind of electronic market: online auction site EBay Inc. "We had dozens and dozens of conversations over a period of years thinking about EBay and what parts might fit with ICE and whether other partners could be involved and who those partners should be," Sprecher says. "My shareholders didn't like the idea, but part of my job is thinking about growing the company, and internally we were very proud of it. She was very blunt and thoughtful about thinking through things."