Uber is hiring a new CFO as its AV plans accelerate

Uber is promoting Balaji Krishnamurthy, vice president of strategic finance and investor relations, to become its chief financial officer, replacing its current CFO, Prashanth Mahendra Raja.

Krishnamurthy has been with Uber for more than six years, spending most of his time at the company in the Investor Relations department. He often posts about the company’s self-driving taxi efforts, and has a seat on the board of AV company Waabi — so the appointment may be a sign of the company’s plans to expand its driverless investments and operations.

In fact, on the company’s Q4 earnings call on Wednesday, Krishnamurthy said the company will invest capital in its AV software partners, work with AV makers through equity investment or through offtake agreements, and “support our partners in autonomous vehicle infrastructure.”

“With significant and growing free cash flow, we will invest over the coming years disciplinedly across multiple opportunities, including positioning Uber to win in the future of autonomous vehicles,” Krishnamurthy wrote in a statement detailing the company’s fourth-quarter results.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said during the call that he is convinced that self-driving cars “will open up a multi-billion-dollar opportunity” for the company, adding that self-driving “fundamentally amplifies” the strengths of the company’s platform.

“By the end of 2026, we expect to facilitate autonomous vehicle trips in up to 15 cities globally, with a roughly equal split between US and international cities,” Khosrowshahi said. “By 2029, we intend to be the largest facilitator of autonomous vehicle trips in the world.”

Uber said revenue rose to $14.37 billion in the fourth quarter, up 20% from a year earlier, driven by strong demand for food delivery services.

Mahendra Raja is leaving Uber after three years at the company.