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The Morning Brief

Corner Office Conversation: Dara Khosrowshahi—India To Be Uber’s No. 1 Market

5/18/202627 min

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says India could become Uber’s largest market globally over the next decade and on whether he is open to a partnership with Travis Kalanick. In this conversation with ET’s editor, ETtech.com, editor-startups, emerging business, new economy Samidha Sharma and Pranav Mukul, he explains Uber’s India strategy across AI, EVs, bike taxis, logistics, and autonomous driving. He discusses the company’s new partnership with the Adani Group, why India’s engineering talent is central to Uber’s AI stack, and how the company sees itself evolving into a broader logistics and work platform. The discussion also covers competition, quick commerce, public transport integration, and whether AI will augment workers or eventually replace them.

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Clips

Reuniting With Travis?
India To Overtake All
No Moats, Only Offense
Rethinking Food Delivery
Engineers With Superpowers

Transcript preview

First 90 seconds

  1. Samidha Sharma· Host0:00

    In 2025, Uber had its best year ever.

  2. Dara Khosrowshahi· Guest0:03

    I expect every year to be our best year, right? If, if, if next year's not our best year, then, then I failed.

  3. Samidha Sharma· Host0:10

    At the center of that turnaround is Dara Khosrowshahi, the man who took over Uber as its CEO in 2017 amid the chaos that followed the ouster of Travis Kalanick.

  4. Dara Khosrowshahi· Guest0:22

    I'm not looking to establish moats. It means I'm playing defense. I like playing offense. Our largest competitor, in the end, is a personal car.

  5. Samidha Sharma· Host0:31

    We sat down with him during his five-day India trip, and the timing couldn't be more telling. On Friday, Uber's closest challenger in India, mobility startup Rapido, announced a 240 million fundraise. India is Uber's third-largest market by trip volume, and by Khosrowshahi's own admission, its toughest.

  6. Dara Khosrowshahi· Guest0:54

    The Indian consumer's super demanding. The one word I would use to describe the Indian market is dynamic. If I look 10 years forward, I think India's gonna be our largest market.

  7. Samidha Sharma· Host1:06

    On today's episode, we ask Khosrowshahi about Uber's big India bets.

  8. Dara Khosrowshahi· Guest1:12

    India is the second-largest talent base that we have other than the US.

  9. Samidha Sharma· Host1:17

    Its new data center partnership.

  10. Dara Khosrowshahi· Guest1:19

    Building out data centers on a local basis here I think is strategic. I think it's strategic to the country.

  11. Samidha Sharma· Host1:24

    A possible return to food delivery.

  12. Dara Khosrowshahi· Guest1:27

    It's something that we're gonna revisit.

  13. Samidha Sharma· Host1:29

    And

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