Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi knows a thing or two about turnarounds. After scaling Expedia Group, he took over from Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick in 2017, led the company through its IPO, and transformed it from an $8.5 billion loss-maker in 2019 to a business that netted $10 billion in profits in 2025. But the battle-hardened executive still faces intensifying competition, rapid technological change, and regulatory hurdles worldwide.
On his latest trip to India, the 57-year-old had a packed schedule, meeting ministers, business leaders, colleagues, drivers, and even shooting commercials. On Friday, he called on Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Anand Mahindra and his M&M executives, and visited the offices of conglomerate JSW—which also makes electric vehicles. In between, Khosrowshahi had an hour-long chat with Mint, wearing a tight-fitting olive green shirt, denims and sporting a Lederer watch. Edited excerpts.
It seems to be a pretty hectic trip to India for you…
Every trip to India is hectic for me—there’s so much to do, so much to see. This one has been particularly hectic. I think we’ve been in six cities in one week. But there’s just so much to do, I could be here easily for three or four more weeks.
I met the finance minister, the labour minister, and a number of chief ministers to have dialog about the market, where we stand in it, and how we can be certain that our growth here continues, but also continues in the right way, so that we’re contributing to the society constructively as we continue to invest in the business.
You invested about ₹3,000 crore last year in India. When do you think you’ll get to see the fruits of these investments? You made a loss of 40 cents on every dollar of revenue in India in FY25…
I don’t want to comment on the particular statistics that you have, but for us, India is a growth and investment market. There are products we have that are highly profitable—for example, our premium segment. We use the profits of that premium segment to invest in growth areas—delivery on demand, or more affordable vehicle products, as well as to expand the business. The same goes geographically. We use the profits that we have in the US and in Europe to invest in our most promising markets.
We could turn a profit here in India, but it would be selling our business and the potential of this country short. So, at this point we continue to lean into India.
How much appetite do you have to absorb these losses, given that now there’s a new competitor in Rapido that has rapidly captured market share?
If you look overall at our business, we grew transactions 20% year-on-year, we grew bookings 21% year-on-year, and our global profitability was up over 40% with almost $10 billion of free cash flow. The fact is, we run a portfolio, and there are parts of the business that are highly profitable, and we use those profits to reinvest in our most promising parts of our business. So, an investment here in India is by design. This is a competitive market, but it’s competitive because of the potential that we see here. One of the fastest growing segments here in India is , and today it is not profitable, but it shouldn’t be based on the growth that we see.
A key challenge with bike taxis in India is the resistance they face from existing auto rickshaws or taxis fleets. There have been instances where bike taxis were banned overnight. How do you navigate these uncertainties?
We navigate it through dialogue. We do think that two wheelers are a benefit as it relates to affordability, as it relates to acting as a first and last mile for public sector transportation, and earnings opportunities. There have been interruptions, but we want to first make sure that we’re good citizens and we play by the rules. We want to make sure that we over-communicate with the general population and public sector. I do think this is a growth area, but just like growth in Uber hasn’t been smooth every single year, there will be interruptions, there will be disturbances on the road. But there’s no question that are going to grow long term.
(Note: This interview happened one day before the Maharashtra government asked Apple and Google to take down bike taxi apps from their app stores.)
You face competition in India with the rise of Rapido. How do you ensure you always have a moat?
I’m not interested in moats, they imply standing still and playing defence. The best way to ensure success is to keep running and to keep innovating and moving quickly. In autonomous vehicles, for example, we have partnerships across mobility, across delivery, even across trucking with over 20 companies globally. We are always looking to be on the bleeding edge, and the minute we fall back, the minute we try to play defence, the minute we want to establish moats, I think the danger becomes greater.
has innovated, but I’d argue we’ve innovated faster, and we’ve more than held our own, and it shows in the business. The business here is accelerating. It’s something that I’m thrilled about, and I’m telling the team to go faster, to go harder, and to innovate, because the minute we stop, someone else is going to look to get ahead. It hasn’t happened yet, but I don’t rest easy for one minute.
You have also moved to a subscription model in India from a commissions-based model. How has your experience been?
It’s a relatively new model for us, we’re still in the experimentation and exploration phase. I think it’s going to be a permanent fixture here in India. I love having local innovations that we can expand globally. We are, as we speak, testing out subscriptions in Brazil, for example, and I expect that experimentation to continue and to expand. The profitability of the subscription model compared to commissions remains to be seen, but there’s no question that there’s enormous growth and appetite for it, which is why we’re leaning into it.
Drivers say Uber’s subscription fee is the most expensive…
I can’t comment on our competitors, but I think the value that a product brings is related to the price that you charge, and the fact is that we bring significant value to our driver partners. What I found is that promotions can get you short-term market share, but in the long term, what counts is the quality of your brand, your service, the reliability, which creates true loyalty. Promotions create a transactional relationship, but we’re looking for something much more fundamental than that.
An exclusively EV ride sharing platform called BluSmart recently exited the market. Do you think Uber can occupy that space, especially when PM Narendra Modi is exhorting the use of EVs?
We operate the largest on-demand EV fleet globally, and here in India as well. I do think that the EV part of our business is going to grow at substantially higher rates than our overall business, which is already growing very, very quickly. It’ll take a long time for us to make the transition to full EVs, and I don’t know whether we will go to full EVs. There are significant investments that are required in terms of vehicle affordability. We need the residual values of EVs to be established. We need more reliable and dependable battery technology, as well as multi-billion-dollar investments in infrastructure. We are actively leaning in on all the above, but we also need partnership from both the private and public sector. I’m certain that and grow on Uber. I don’t know whether the end state will be 100% EV or not.
How soon can you bring autonomous taxis to India?
Well, that remains to be seen. Obviously, we would need the regulatory framework to be here, and it’s something that we would love to talk to the appropriate regulators about. That said, these vehicles are incredibly expensive. They cost well over $100,000 and I don’t see the economics of the Indian market supporting robotaxis at least profitably over the next five years, but at the same time we would love to experiment here, and it’s a dialogue that I look forward to having with appropriate authorities.
How do the unit economics of robotaxis compare with human drivers in the US, where you’re operating them right now?
Today, the cost of robotaxis is higher than the cost of humans, because the vehicles are very expensive with significant compute and multiple sensor stacks, including cameras, LIDAR, and RADAR. Those hardware costs are going to come down. So, even though the unit economics today are negative, we are leaning into robotaxi development, and I think with probably two generations of , the economics will get to a point where they will be more affordable on a variable basis than humans in certain high-fare markets. This is a technology that’s super exciting, and at this point we are focused on developing safety and capabilities versus the economics. But I’m certain that unit economics will get to a positive point. It’s just going to take time.
You have ride sharing, you have deliveries, you facilitate public transport bookings, and now, you are getting into hotel bookings. Are you going towards being a super app?
I wouldn’t say that building a super app per se is a goal. I want to make everyday life for you, for a consumer, just a little bit better and easier. In some ways, Uber gives your time back by giving you the convenience of food delivered to your own home, or the ability for you to work on your next article as you’re going to work, and so we keep adding convenience and services to the ecosystem. We think if we do so, maybe you’ll spend a few more dollars on our system, and we can thrive as well as you.
You scaled up Expedia during your time as the CEO. Even in Uber, you’ve taken it from deep losses to $10 billion annual profit. What’s your next challenge as the CEO of Uber?
Uber continues to challenge me every day. Looking from the outside, what you see is growth, and increasing profits, but every day here is a challenge. There’s a ton of competition. The world is changing. We don’t want to run the company just for pure profit. We also want to run it for the benefit of society, and every day is difficult, but that difficulty also is rewarding in the success of the company.
So, what’s next after hotel bookings?
I want to wire up everything that moves. Transit is a huge part of that. We just sold our 10 millionth Metro ticket. It’s something that we’re quite proud of. We’ve got plenty of things to wire up in the near future…
In hindsight, how do you look at the decision to sell Uber Eats in India?
That’s a tough question. We want to win, and you need focus in order to win, and the potential and the size of the market that we saw in India, as it relates to mobility, was so great that we thought that we should just focus on mobility and look to expand there. And that’s not a decision that I regret, certainly based on the growth that we’ve seen here. There’s an emotional part of me that would love to be in delivery. I had an all-hands with our employees and a lot of our employees want us to be in delivery. But our focus on , with all of the potential here, I think it served us well. So, in hindsight, it was the right decision to make.
As a person born in Iran, how do you see the current war? Do you expect a regime change?
I think the loss of life is tragic. I talk to my friends who have family there—they’re incredibly worried and they have a very hard time communicating with their families. I don’t know whether there will be regime change, but there’s no question in my mind that the current regime hasn’t served the population well. I think that Iran deserves to be a part of the global community, and I do hope that there’s change. I don’t know how it will happen, but if it happens, I hope that it happens in a way that avoids the loss of human life.
Would you look to step up if the country needs help to rebuild?
I would love to help. I have more than a full-time job here, but if called on to help Iran in a transition, I would jump at that opportunity.
People say Iran has never lost a war…
I think war in and of itself is a loss. My hope is that it ends. It really is my hope.
You also have very strong views on work-life balance. There’s a growing debate in India. Would you like to weigh in?
I certainly believe in flexibility at work, and that, to some extent, is what Uber is all about as a service. That’s what we offer the 10 million earners who are on our platform on a global basis. Personally, when I’m at home, I sit down with my family and have dinner from six to eight. I put my phone down. I don’t let that interrupt me. But after dinner, and after I put the kids to bed, I’m working again.
The fact is that we operate in a challenging sector. And I personally think that there is no replacement for hard work. Some people say that you can have it all, and that sounds great, but the fact is that there are trade-offs in life. Uber has a culture of hard work, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a family life, that doesn’t mean you can’t have your interests. We want you to work hard, but we also offer you the opportunity to work flexibly. And what I’ve seen in my life is that people like working hard and succeeding, they like standing shoulder to shoulder with their teammates, and while in the moment hard work can seem difficult, the satisfaction that you get from success and shared success, it makes it all worthwhile.
You’re wearing a beautiful watch. Would you like to talk about it?
Oh, yeah. It’s a Lederer. It’s a present from my wife. My wife gets me watches every year, so this one’s my favorite. It’s really lovely, and when I see it, I think of her, which is wonderful.
Which is one book that you’ve read recently that has left a deep impression?
I read a lot of books, so let me think of the last one that has left an impression. Good to Great is one of my favorites. The last one that I read was actually 1929. It is a book written by Andrew Ross Sorkin. He’s a friend. And you know it just shows that progress can be interrupted, in this case, by one of the great economic and personal tragedies. But certainly growth continued, and the lessons of those unfortunate times are lessons that we’ve got to take forward.