Uber said it has appointed Balaji Krishnamurthy as its new chief financial officer, promoting the current vice president of strategic finance and investor relations as the company sharpens its focus on autonomous vehicle investments.
Krishnamurthy will replace Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah, who is leaving Uber after three years in the role. Krishnamurthy has spent more than six years at Uber, largely within its investor relations function, and has been closely associated with the company’s autonomous mobility strategy. He also holds a board seat at autonomous vehicle startup Waabi.
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On Uber’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Wednesday, Krishnamurthy outlined plans to allocate capital toward autonomous vehicle software partners, equity investments in AV manufacturers and offtake agreements, as well as support for AV infrastructure providers. “With large and growing free cash flows, over the coming years we will invest with discipline across a multitude of opportunities, including positioning Uber to win in an AV future,” he said in a statement accompanying the company’s quarterly results.
Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said autonomous vehicles represent a major long-term growth opportunity for the company. Autonomy would “unlock a multitrillion-dollar opportunity” and “fundamentally amplify” the strengths of Uber’s platform, he told analysts.
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Khosrowshahi said Uber expects to facilitate autonomous vehicle trips in as many as 15 cities globally by the end of 2026, split roughly evenly between the United States and international markets. By 2029, the company aims to become the world’s largest facilitator of autonomous vehicle trips, he added.
Over the past two years, Uber has built partnerships with more than 20 autonomous vehicle companies across applications including robotaxis, autonomous delivery and trucking. These include shared robotaxi operations with Waymo in Atlanta and Austin, as well as agreements with Avride, UK-based Wayve, China’s WeRide and Momenta, and Volkswagen.
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The company has also made direct investments in several AV startups. Waabi recently announced a $750 million Series C funding round that includes up to an additional $250 million from Uber tied to deployment milestones, aimed at supporting more than 25,000 robotaxis on Uber’s platform. Uber has also invested in Nuro and Lucid as part of a partnership to launch a premium robotaxi service.
