Uber · AI product · Mid · 45 to 60 minutes

Where should Uber place its AI bets?

Uber is a platform that lets people request rides from drivers through a mobile app. Answer this product management case and get it graded line by line against a weighted rubric.

product strategy
prioritization
metric design
marketplace thinking
AI judgment

The situation

You are a PM in Uber's core rides business. The head of product has asked for a recommendation on where AI should matter most in the next planning cycle. Interest inside the company is high, from smarter pricing and matching, to support automation, to the growing possibility of robotic vehicles serving some trips. At the same time, finance and operations leaders are pushing for discipline. They do not want a list of flashy AI ideas, they want a clear view of which business levers each bet could move and what trade offs come with it. The timing is urgent because ride demand is uneven by city, service reliability is critical, and supply coverage still depends heavily on human drivers. Some leaders believe robotic vehicles could eventually improve economics or availability, while others worry that limited coverage could leave riders stranded or make the marketplace less reliable. You need to propose a product strategy for AI in rides that is grounded in Uber's business model, prioritizes a small set of bets, and explains how Uber should think about human drivers and robotic vehicles together, if at all.

What to produce

Write a 1 to 2 page strategy memo, about 700 to 900 words.

Your answer must

Define the business objective using Uber's core growth levers, consumers, trips per consumer, and gross bookings per trip.
Recommend 2 to 3 AI bets for the rides business and rank them by priority.
For each bet, explain the causal path from product change to the business metric or metrics it should move.
State how Uber should handle human drivers and robotic vehicles in the marketplace, and why that approach best protects service coverage and user experience.
Include a phased plan for the next 12 to 24 months with key success metrics, leading indicators, and one major risk for each phase.

Constraints

Keep the scope to Uber's core rides marketplace, not food delivery or other businesses.
Do not assume robotic vehicles can cover every city, route, or time of day.
Do not rely on acquisitions, exclusive partnerships, or major regulatory changes that are not already in place.
Your plan should be realistic for a mid term product strategy, not a research vision with no operating path.

Format

A strong memo uses five sections, objective, prioritized AI bets, marketplace approach, metrics, and rollout risks.

How Uber actually played it

Breaks down Uber's AI strategy around its growth formula of consumers, trips per consumer and gross bookings per trip, including mixing human drivers and robotic vehicles so users are not stranded.

Start with the growth formula
Blend humans and automation for coverage
Map AI bets to the metric they move

Built from Uber's AI Strategy by Technomanagers.