Uber elevates Pradeep Parameswaran to Global Head of Mobility

American ride-hailing giant Uber has promoted Pradeep Parameswaran as its new Global Head of Mobility, marking one of the most significant leadership transitions at the San Francisco-based company in recent years.

The elevation places the India-born executive at the helm of Uber’s largest business vertical, overseeing mobility operations across all key markets including Asia Pacific, Europe-Middle East-Africa (EMEA), and North America.

Parameswaran will report directly to CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and join Uber’s executive leadership team. According to an internal memo, he will succeed Andrew Macdonald, a veteran at Uber, who has now been named the company’s Chief Operating Officer. Macdonald’s elevation restores the COO position at Uber after a gap of six years, and is expected to drive greater strategic focus on automation and next-generation transportation.

“This change might prompt some questions about my future,” wrote Khosrowshahi in the note to employees. “So I’ll be clear: I have no plans to go anywhere anytime soon – other than fly around the globe trying to keep up with our ever-growing footprint.”

The leadership reshuffle comes at a moment when Uber is balancing its expansion in emerging markets with rising competition and a shifting focus toward autonomous mobility.

Macdonald, who has been at Uber for over 13 years, said of his successor, “Pradeep is someone who is uniquely able to bridge the forest and the trees. He brings bold vision, like getting every taxi in the world on Uber, while keeping his hands in the details as a classic Uber nuts-and-bolts operator.”

Parameswaran joined Uber in 2017 as Head of Central Operations for India, later serving as President for India and South Asia. He was promoted to Regional General Manager for Asia Pacific in 2020, and in 2023, he was named Global Head of Business Development—leading Uber for Business, enterprise partnerships, and the company’s emerging fleet programme.

In his new role, Parameswaran will also oversee Uber’s high-capacity vehicle (HCV) initiatives, micro-mobility products, shuttle services, and the consumer vehicle division—an increasingly strategic segment as cities explore alternatives to private car ownership.

Parameswaran has been instrumental in Uber’s international growth, playing a lead role in the acquisitions of CarNextDoor in Australia and HKTaxi in Hong Kong. He has also spearheaded several electric mobility initiatives in India, including a partnership with Tata Motors to deploy EVs and a \$20 million investment in Everest Fleet, a Mumbai-based operator of electric and CNG vehicles.

A mechanical engineering graduate from IIT Madras and MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Parameswaran has held a range of leadership roles before joining Uber. He served as CEO at DEN Networks, was a partner at McKinsey & Company, and began his career at Hindustan Unilever.

He also serves as an independent director on the board of FSN E-Commerce Ventures, the parent company of beauty and fashion platform Nykaa.

Uber’s India and South Asia business continues to be led by Prabhjeet Singh, who reports to the Asia Pacific leadership. India remains a strategic technology hub for the company, with over 1,500 employees based in Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

Parameswaran’s elevation is the latest in a series of high-profile appointments of Indian-origin leaders at Uber. In October 2024, the company named Sachin Kansal and Praveen Naga as Chief Product Officer and Chief Technology Officer, respectively, following the departure of former CPO Sundeep Jain. Uber’s former head of delivery engineering, Anirban Kundu, also exited the company to become CTO at Instacart.