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As artificial intelligence reshapes every corner of business, even tech giants like Uber face a defining question: How do you evolve at machine speed without losing human connection, trust, and purpose?
CHROs can’t afford to “wait and see” how the AI takeover takes place. It’s already inside the systems, workflows, and decisions shaping how organizations operate every day, especially at Uber, which moves more than 36 million trips a day. Behind every single one of those rides is a living, breathing system of code, data, and people—all interacting in real time.
And at the center of it is Praveen Neppalli Naga, Uber’s Chief Technology Officer for Mobility and Delivery, who oversees 4,000 engineers and scientists building the infrastructure that keeps the platform moving.
In our conversation, Praveen unpacked how Uber is leading one of the most complex digital transformations in the world—scaling AI responsibly while keeping human judgment and reliability at its core.
Listen to the episode here on Apple Podcast & leave a review!
The Leadership Challenge: Moving Fast Without Breaking Trust
For Uber, speed isn’t just a metric—it’s survival. Every decision, from pricing to routing, must happen in milliseconds across millions of active users. But as Praveen points out, the real challenge for CHROs isn’t in keeping systems running, but in ensuring that the trust, morale, and productivity of your global workforce aren’t sacrificed for tech adaptation speed.
“Any bug that prevents an earner from taking a trip isn’t just a technical issue,” he said. “It’s someone’s paycheck.”
That kind of responsibility changes the entire blueprint for talent management and organizational culture. It demands an environment where innovation is inseparable from accountability.
Uber’s evolution is happening on two fronts: internally, by transforming how engineers build and deploy systems using AI-powered tools, and externally, by integrating AI into the products customers interact with every day—from personalized UberEats recommendations to future-ready autonomous fleets.
Inside Uber’s AI Transformation
Uber’s relationship with AI runs deep, from matching riders with drivers, calculating ETAs, and preventing fraud. But what’s happening now is a paradigm shift—a rethinking of how humans and machines collaborate—and it has profound implications for your talent strategy and organizational productivity.
The core challenge for every CHRO is figuring out how to achieve “faster iterations” and “efficient debugging” across your organization without sacrificing employee well-being or cultural alignment.
Praveen shared, in Uber’s experience, they use AI tools like Cursor (an AI-assisted coding platform) that allows developers to “talk to their codebase” in natural language, and agentic workflows that directly tackle the issue of “engineering tax”—the tedious, repetitive maintenance work that slows down innovation.
This isn’t just about engineers. Every function—HR, finance, operations, legal—has its own “tax” of repetitive tasks. The CHRO must lead the charge on identifying these friction points and deploying AI to free up highly-compensated, valuable talent to focus on high-impact, strategic work. This is the fastest way to drive ROI on talent.
But the real breakthrough isn’t just technical. It’s cultural. The success of AI adoption hinges on your ability to manage fear, inspire experimentation, and rewrite the social contract with your employees.
Praveen insists that AI should be seen as a companion, not a replacement. Engineers at Uber aren’t being forced to use new tools—they’re being inspired to experiment with them. “You can’t just mandate people to use AI,” he said. “You have to bring them along and show them the value.”
CHROs must fundamentally rethink learning and development programs to train managers and individual contributors on this human-machine collaboration.
Listen to the episode here on Apple Podcast & leave a review!
Four Non-Negotiables for Governing AI Adoption
If you’re navigating digital transformation, Uber’s AI journey offers four practical, non-negotiable mandates that should be on every CHRO’s agenda:
- Enforce Governance by Design: Encourage experimentation, but mandate human guardrails. Uber requires every AI-generated output to be reviewed by an engineer to prevent a “critical outage.” Your job is to define the risk framework and train the talent to execute it.
- Anchor Tech to Empathy: Technology decisions must be rooted in human impact. Uber’s culture starts with empathy for the earners and riders. This perspective ensures that AI reinforces your organizational values, rather than undermining the employee and customer experience.
- Model the Learning Mindset: Leaders must replace fear with curiosity. When Praveen personally experiments with new tools, he models the continuous learning vital for large-scale change. Your training strategy must empower managers to lead by example.
- Prioritize Cultural Intentionality: AI is a cultural project, not an IT one. The essence of great leadership—intentionality and patience—remains the key. Culture doesn’t change overnight; your role is to ensure it evolves consistently with your values.
Why This Matters for Every People Leader
The shift happening at Uber isn’t unique—it mirrors the transformation underway across nearly every industry. AI is fundamentally redefining how organizations operate, how teams collaborate, and how leaders make decisions. But the companies that will truly win this next era aren’t the ones that automate the fastest; they’re the ones that stay human through the change.
For you as a CHRO and senior leader, that means prioritizing the Human Dividend. It’s about building cultures where technology amplifies human capability instead of replacing it, where learning and adaptation aren’t just programs but everyday disciplines, and where empathy remains the foundation of progress.
Praveen’s story offers more than just a glimpse into an engineering revolution—it’s a working playbook for future-ready talent leadership.
To hear the full conversation with Praveen Neppalli Naga and explore how to lead through AI transformation without losing your humanity, listen to the full episode of Future Ready Leadership below.