Key Takeaways:

  • Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said on Thursday (Q2 2026 earnings call) that customer support isa prime example of AI's potentialto improve operational efficiency without sacrificing quality.
  • During the quarter, Uber reduced headcount by about 10% to 20% in some organizations, includinga 10% cut to its customer service team last month, which Khosrowshahi said resulted in some cost savings.
  • "Our investments in AI should translate into productivity gains, which will allow us to slow the pace of headcount growth," Khosrowshahi said.

Deep Dive:

Uber is investing heavily in AI across its business to achieve incremental improvements in conversion rates and customer experience.

Khosrowshahi mentionedUber Eats' cart assistant, a feature that turns photos of recipes or handwritten grocery lists taken by customers into grocery orders.

"The effect is that consumers who use it love it, and these carts are typically twice the size of non-AI-built carts," Khosrowshahi said. "So in terms of average order size, you get both increased consumer satisfaction and higher average order value."

Khosrowshahi also noted that larger AI models can receive a broader range of signals, enabling more accurate predictions of consumer behavior.

"Models now can pick up signals based on history," Khosrowshahi said. "They can pick up real-time signals, and they can pick up cross-platform behavioral data. Then we can show these consumers more relevant information."

This can ensure consumers see more targeted ads, improving conversion rates and helping merchants monetize more effectively, Khosrowshahi said. Alternatively, AI can alert consumers that an item in their cart may be out of stock, allowing them to choose a substitute, thereby improving the shopping experience.

Uber's AI also provides personalized destination suggestions based on riders' past trips.

"75% of the time, we can actually guess where you're going based on your history, and we guess it well enough that you don't need to type anything," Khosrowshahi said. "That's another small example of AI capability. I wouldn't expect AI to bring one huge leap. It's going to be thousands of small improvements that we think will drive our growth for the foreseeable future."

Although these advances are still in early stages, "all of them either improve conversion rates or improve the basic consumer experience," Khosrowshahi said.

When the company cut 10% of its customer service staff last month, Uber leadership said it needed to streamline the organization to better leverage AI.

Gartner VP Analyst Kathy Ross noted that such remarks suggest the layoffs may be more about laying the groundwork for future AI success—rather than the business having already achieved massive AI success.

"It's important to decouple Uber's layoffs from current AI success: this is more of a business restructuring decision aimed at preparing for future AI success," Ross told CX Dive last month.