Uber CEO unveils strategic ambitions: expand autonomous driving and advertising, and increase stock buybacks
1min read Uber (UBER.US) CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said at the Goldman Communications & Technology conference that the company is fully committed to the use of self-driving cars and plans to build a market that allows the company to remain as "purely business" as possible.
"The situation is dynamic, and we want to play in areas of strength, targeting demand and supply to improve supplier economics and utilization," Khosrowshahi said.
Khosrowshahi confirmed that Uber is working with 10 self-driving car companies, including Waymo and Cruise, is currently working with Wave in the UK, and expects the software to "get to a very good level in the next three to five years."
On the advertising front, one of Uber's biggest growth areas is sponsorship lists, especially in groceries. The company is actively expanding outside the U.S. and into what Khosrowshahi calls "high-margin businesses."
In addition to expanding in the self-driving space, Khosrowshahi's priorities for Uber include growing the business organically rather than through acquisition, and most of the company's efforts are focused on achieving organic growth.
Lastly, Khosrowshahi plans to use most of Uber's incremental capital for share repurchases, with the goal of reducing the company's future stock base.
"We want to keep the capitalization as low as possible," he added.
