Uber is a global technology platform that connects riders with drivers through a mobile app, offering services such as ride-hailing, food delivery, and freight logistics. The company has expanded its platform to include services like Uber Eats and freight transportation.
Founded: 2009
Founders:Garrett Camp, Travis Kalanick
Headquarters: San Francisco, California, United States
Industry: Transportation technology, ride-hailing, logistics, food delivery
Notable Info:Uber operates in hundreds of cities worldwide and became one of the leading pioneers of the gig economy, transforming urban transportation through its app-based marketplace.
Executive Recruiting, APAC
Prior to founding Conduit, Gabriel and Michael were founding members of Uber’s APAC Executive Recruiting team. Based in Tokyo, they played a key role in building leadership teams across the region during a period of rapid expansion.
During their time at Uber, they supported the hiring of more than 100 executives across key markets including Japan, South Korea, India, Singapore, and Australia. Their work helped strengthen leadership capabilities across Uber’s major business lines and functions throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
Challenges
Outcomes
Scaling Leadership Across Rapidly Growing Markets: Uber needed to hire senior leaders to support rapid expansion across multiple APAC countries.
Building Leadership Across Diverse Functions: The search required executives across a wide range of business and technical functions.
Coordinating Multi-Market Executive Hiring: Leadership hiring had to be executed simultaneously across several countries and business lines.
Significant Executive Hiring Impact: More than 100 executives were successfully hired across APAC markets.
Strong Offer Acceptance Rate: The search process achieved a 98% acceptance rate among selected candidates.
Regional Leadership Infrastructure Built: Key leadership teams were established across 10 markets and multiple Uber business lines.
The Challenge
As Uber accelerated its growth across Asia-Pacific, the company required a scalable executive recruiting function capable of supporting leadership hiring across multiple markets simultaneously. The region represented a complex and diverse set of markets, each with distinct regulatory environments, talent pools, and operational challenges.
Uber needed to rapidly identify and hire senior leaders who could build and manage local businesses while aligning with the company’s global strategy. These leaders were responsible for supporting expansion across several core business areas, including mobility, delivery, engineering, and corporate functions.
In addition to geographic complexity, the search required executives across a wide range of disciplines including general management, sales, marketing, policy, legal, engineering, product, and people operations. Building these leadership teams was critical to enabling Uber’s continued growth and operational scale across the region.
he Approach
To meet these demands, Gabriel and Michael helped establish and scale Uber’s APAC Executive Recruiting function. Working closely with regional and global stakeholders, they built a structured approach to executive hiring that combined deep market knowledge with disciplined search processes.
Their work involved mapping executive talent across multiple industries, engaging senior candidates across the region, and partnering closely with internal leadership to define role scope and hiring priorities. They also contributed to refining Uber’s global executive search practices, helping introduce consistent processes for evaluating and securing senior talent.
Operating from Tokyo, they were closely involved in the growth of Uber’s Japan business, supporting the expansion of the local team from approximately 30 employees to more than 500 while also contributing to leadership hiring across the broader region.
The Outcome
Over the course of their tenure, Gabriel and Michael supported the hiring of more than 100 executives across 13 countries and 10 core APAC markets. These leaders helped build and scale Uber’s regional operations across all major business lines, including Mobility (Rides), Delivery (Eats), Grocery & Retail, Advertising, Uber Direct, and Uber for Business.
The recruiting team achieved a 98% offer acceptance rate, reflecting the strength of the search process and the ability to attract high-caliber leaders to Uber’s rapidly growing platform.
These hires played a central role in establishing Uber’s leadership infrastructure across Asia-Pacific, enabling the company to scale operations, expand into new markets, and support continued innovation across its regional business portfolio.