Dara Khosrowshahi says a headhunter's cold call while he ran Expedia led to his Uber CEO job, after an initial dismissal.
Khosrowshahi says Uber is supply led, so winning autonomous vehicles means securing every driver, restaurant and courier, with over 30 AV partners including Waymo and Nvidia.
Khosrowshahi predicts AVs will create another trillion dollar marketplace as costs fall, and he expects many AV winners rather than one.
Uber's CEO bets AV makers will need his network
Uber is betting that autonomous vehicles expand its business rather than replace it. Because many AV makers will compete, they need a network that already holds demand and supply, and Uber wants to be their go-to-market partner. Cheaper rides lift demand, while memberships and travel deepen customer loyalty.
Takeaways
Uber aims to be the hub for many AV winners. Uber has over 30 AV partnerships, including Waymo, Lucid, Nvidia, Nuro, Wayve, WeRide and Pony.ai. Khosrowshahi expects many winners, as with foundation models. AVs on Uber's network run about 30 percent busier, and he likens AV firms to hotels using online travel agents.
AVs should open a trillion dollar marketplace. As costs fall, demand rises. Khosrowshahi says AVs will be safer than humans and that riders treat them as normal within three minutes. A billion dollar Santander financing line supports the build-out, and he expects London robotaxi pilots before year end.
Uber is supply led, so supply decides winners. Unlike demand-first Expedia, Uber wins by locking up supply on every side of its marketplace. Khosrowshahi says it has signed roughly 40 to 50 percent of the restaurants and merchants it could host in its cities.
Physical AI is limited by manufacturing and batteries. He says the West needs a Foxconn style low-cost manufacturer. For drones, battery density is the main obstacle. He predicts food drones reach real scale in two to five years, and Middle East regulators are moving fast.
AI is lifting productivity and blowing budgets. Engineers are far more productive, and AI spending exceeded a full year's budget in one quarter. Uber meters headcount while pushing adoption, and Khosrowshahi wants processes rebuilt from first principles rather than patched.
Memberships and travel widen Uber beyond rides. Uber One has 50m members and turned profitable after an unprofitable first year. Uber is adding trains and a hotel deal with Expedia. Uber Reserve exceeds a $5bn run rate, pointing toward pre-booked travel.
Organic growth comes first, buybacks second. Khosrowshahi calls capital allocation more art than science. Diller taught him to go to the source for unfiltered truth. Allen taught him to bet on people. He adds that companies need troublemakers, or they stop mutating and die.
How Khosrowshahi steadied Uber
A headhunter called while he ran Expedia and he dismissed it. Daniel Ek then told him life is about impact, and he called back the next morning.
He found a board fighting over control and a committee of executives running the company. He broke the problem into components.
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He brought in Ron Sugar as chairman to unify the board and ran a listening tour with stakeholders.
He kept Andrew McDonald as President and COO and added Tony West. He links his calm to his family leaving Iran when he was nine and to an engineering mindset.