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In today’s episode, I’m speaking with Eduardo Rojas, an autonomous delivery operator and former founding member of Uber’s Autonomous Mobility & Delivery team. Eduardo shares insights from his time helping shape Uber’s early autonomous vehicle strategy, how the company’s thinking around AVs has evolved over the years, and why partnerships have become such a central part of Uber’s approach.
We also discuss the current relationship between Uber and Waymo, including the tradeoffs between Waymo’s vertically integrated model and Uber’s demand aggregation strategy, whether Waymo risks sidelining an important partner, and how investors may be interpreting Uber’s position as autonomous vehicles scale. Eduardo explains how Uber supports AV partners today, where he sees the biggest opportunities in autonomous delivery, and what the future could look like for both companies as robotaxis and autonomous logistics continue expanding.
Finally, we explore the broader competitive landscape, the evolving economics of autonomy, and where Eduardo believes the biggest opportunities lie as autonomous delivery and rideshare move toward larger scale commercialization.
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Chapters
(00:00) Introduction to Eduardo Rojas and his background at Uber
(03:07) Uber’s AV delivery strategy in its early days
(06:59) How Uber’s autonomous delivery/rideshare strategy has evolved
(14:40) Has Uber’s focus shifted from mobility to delivery?
(16:34) How Uber supports their AV partners.
(18:00) Uber’s stock price and how it’s reacting to Waymo’s AV dominance
(20:34) Waymo’s first-party model vs. Uber’s demand/supply aggregator model
(23:50) Waymo’s first-party model vs. partnerships with TNCs.
(31:13) The direction of Waymo and Uber’s relationship, and why Waymo might have snubbed Uber in recent launches.
(33:57) Why Waymo should further partner with Uber, and the potential downsides of sidelining Uber
(35:32) The potential future direction of Waymo and Uber’s partnership
(37:32) The future of autonomous delivery and where the opportunities lie
(42:00) Conclusions and final thoughts
Notes/Links:
You can find Eduardo on LinkedIn.
My article about the Waymo and Uber relationship, mentioned at the 31:10 timestamp - Is the Uber x Waymo Partnership Coming to an End?
Uber CTO’s tweet criticizing Waymo, mentioned at the 31:27 timestamp (link).
Eduardo’s post about the Waymo-Uber relationship, mentioned at the 31:39 timestamp (link).
-Harry
