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Dara Khosrowshahi - Uber's Bet on AVs, AI, and Building a Super-App - [Invest Like the Best, EP.476]

Shownote

My guest today is Dara Khosrowshahi [https://x.com/dkhos], the CEO of Uber. Before Uber, Dara ran Expedia for thirteen years. We start with why he took this job in 2017, and a big part of that story is Daniel Ek, who told him that life is not about happiness, it is about impact. We talk about what the chaos felt like on day one, and how his family leaving Iran when he was nine shaped the way he handles pressure today.  We spend most of our time on autonomous vehicles and Uber's role as the demand aggregator in a world of physical AI. Dara explains why Uber is a supply-led company, what it will take to win, and why he expects many winners in AVs rather than one.  We also discuss Uber's $10 billion in free cash flow, the push toward a single app for everything, and what he has learned from Allen & Co, Barry Diller and Reed Hastings. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://colossus.com/episode/order-out-of-chaos/].  ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at ⁠colossus.com/subscribe⁠ [http://colossus.com/subscribe]. ----- ⁠Ramp’s⁠ [http://ramp.com/invest] mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://ramp.com/250-signup-bonus?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=paid-podcast&utm_campaign=podcast-colossus-250&utm_content=invest]⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ [http://ramp.com/invest] to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, ⁠Vanta⁠ [http://vanta.com/invest] continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Invest Like the Best listeners get a special offer of $1,000 off Vanta when you go to ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠ [http://vanta.com/invest].  ----- WorkOS⁠ [https://workos.com/] is the infrastructure B2B and AI-native companies use to sell to enterprise. It covers everything enterprise security requires: SSO, SCIM, RBAC, Audit Logs, AI governance, and more. Trusted by 2,000+ fast-growing companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Vercel. ----- Rogo [http://rogo.ai/invest] is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest [http://rogo.ai/invest]. ----- ⁠Ridgeline⁠ [https://www.ridgelineapps.com/] has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgelineapps.com⁠ [https://www.ridgelineapps.com/]. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://thepodcastconsultant.com/]). Timestamps: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best (00:02:29) Intro to Dara Khosrowshahi (00:03:37) How Daniel Ek Convinced Dara to Take the Uber Job (00:06:54) Bringing Order to Chaos (00:09:20) Managing Stress as a Leader (00:11:22) The Chip on His Shoulder (00:12:53) Parenting Lessons (00:17:01) Mandate for AI Adoption (00:21:21) Uber's Role in Physical AI (00:22:48) Winning the AV Demand Race (00:27:41) Partnering vs. Competing with Waymo (00:32:05) AV Success Unlocks New Markets (00:35:09) Why Drones Haven't Arrived Yet (00:36:27) Regional AV Rollout Differences (00:37:35) Uber Eats International Winning Formula (00:39:44) Key to Aggregating Supply Well (00:44:34) Adding Hotels to Uber Platform (00:50:46) Lessons in Marketing at Scale (00:52:59) Apps vs. AI Agents in Seven Years (00:54:08) What Dara Learned from Barry Diller (00:56:52) What Dara Learned from Allen & Co (01:00:09) Buybacks vs. Growth Investing (01:04:17) Lessons from Reed Hastings (01:05:49) The Kindest Thing

Highlights

In this episode, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi discusses his journey from leading Expedia to taking the helm at Uber during a period of intense turmoil. He shares the pivotal advice from Spotify's Daniel Ek that convinced him to take the role, and how his family's experience as immigrants from Iran shaped his approach to pressure and leadership. The conversation centers on Uber's strategy for the future, particularly its role as a demand aggregator in the age of autonomous vehicles and physical AI.
00:00
Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber
02:31
Prioritize impact over happiness
03:37
Life is about impact, not happiness.
06:58
Break down problems into components to make chaos manageable
09:24
Separate work from personal identity
11:23
He attributes his competitive nature to his Iranian immigrant background.
12:53
Overprotecting children is a disservice.
17:05
Balance AI costs with headcount growth
21:24
Uber can win as a demand aggregator in AV space
25:55
Magical experiences quickly become normal.
27:43
The biggest risk is public skepticism toward AI and AV technology
32:09
AVs will be more efficient than human drivers
35:14
Real scale in 2-5 years for food and groceries
36:28
Middle East moves fast with supportive regulators
37:44
13% of Eats bookings come from the mobility app.
42:25
Uber One loses money initially but becomes profitable over time
46:59
Integrating ride-hailing, flights, and hotel check-in
50:46
Marketing now creates narratives around services
52:59
Inbound interactions will shift to unstructured, AI-driven conversations
54:09
Get unfiltered truth directly from the source.
59:18
Companies comfortable with change will adapt, while those rigid in their ways will struggle.
1:03:08
Success makes you talk more and listen less.
1:04:18
Hastings' thinking is logical yet gambler-like.
1:05:50
She accepted me for who I am.

Chapters

Welcome to Invest Like The Best
00:00
Intro to Dara Khosrowshahi
02:29
How Daniel Ek Convinced Dara to Take the Uber Job
03:37
Bringing Order to Chaos
06:54
Managing Stress as a Leader
09:20
The Chip on His Shoulder
11:22
Parenting Lessons
12:53
Mandate for AI Adoption
17:01
Uber's Role in Physical AI
21:21
Winning the AV Demand Race
22:48
Partnering vs. Competing with Waymo
27:41
AV Success Unlocks New Markets
32:05
Why Drones Haven't Arrived Yet
35:09
Regional AV Rollout Differences
36:27
Uber Eats International Winning Formula
37:35
Key to Aggregating Supply Well
39:44
Adding Hotels to Uber Platform
44:34
Lessons in Marketing at Scale
50:46
Apps vs. AI Agents in Seven Years
52:59
What Dara Learned from Barry Diller
54:08
What Dara Learned from Allen & Co
56:52
Buybacks vs. Growth Investing
1:00:09
Lessons from Reed Hastings
1:04:17
The Kindest Thing
1:05:49

Transcript

Speaker 2: Most software companies try to maximize your time on their app to juice engagement. Ramp does the exact opposite. Ramp understands that no one wants to spend hours chasing receipts, reviewing expense reports, and checking for policy violations. ...