Uber is intentionally decelerating its headcount expansion to reallocate resources toward artificial intelligence (AI), as revealed by CEO Dara Khosrowshahi during the company’s first-quarter 2026 earnings call. Khosrowshahi explained that the productivity improvements driven by AI are substantial enough to justify shifting expenditure from human hiring to technological advancements.
AI as an Accelerator
“I think you should just look at AI as an accelerator. For us, for every company, it means that our investment in AI tools and infrastructure is increasing. That will be offset by slower headcount growth,” Khosrowshahi stated. He emphasized that AI is not merely an assistive tool but is transforming employees into “superpowered” workers.
AI in Code Development
Khosrowshahi highlighted that approximately 10% of Uber’s code changes are now generated by autonomous AI agents. However, human engineers still review and test the code before it is integrated into the company’s repository. This approach has led to an increase in the number of code commits per engineer, enabling faster system development and maintenance.
“We are seeing it. Like, if we look at the number of code commits for engineer, it’s increasing. The number of lines per code is increasing. About 10% of our codes now is committed. That’s committed is built by agents, autonomous agents out there. Obviously, we check the code before it gets committed. I think you should just look at AI as an accelerator,” Khosrowshahi added.
Underestimated Impact
The pivot toward AI has been more aggressive than initially planned. CFO Balaji Krishnamurthy admitted that the company “underestimated” the potential impact of AI tools during its 2025 budgeting process. Khosrowshahi also noted that the mathematical case for AI productivity is too compelling to ignore.
“If every person at this company can increase their throughput by 20%, 30%, 50%, 100%, I think leading headcount growth and leaning in on AI investment is gonna be well worth it,” he said, adding, “AI is helping our engineers and our employees across the company become more efficient to move faster across the board in almost every single step of building.”
Uber has utilized AI for years to manage complex tasks such as pricing rides and matching drivers with passengers. The company’s renewed focus on AI underscores a broader trend in the tech industry toward automation and efficiency.
