Latest news with #ManikandanThangarathnam
New Indian Express
08-08-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
50 per cent off on metro tickets booked via Uber app
CHENNAI: Uber has enabled booking metro tickets through its app, in an attempt to allow commuters to plan door-to-door public transport journeys and get access to real-time transit updates. As part of the launch, Uber is offering Chennai users a 50% discount on metro tickets throughout August. Additional incentives include 50% off (up to Rs20) on Uber Auto and Uber Moto rides that either begin or end at a metro station in the city. 'Our partnership with CMRL marks a significant milestone in our journey to make urban mobility more seamless, accessible, and efficient,' said Manikandan Thangarathnam, senior director of mobility and platforms at Uber. 'By integrating metro ticketing into the app, we're reinforcing our commitment to being a one-stop solution for urban transport.' 'Our AI systems can analyse commuting preferences to offer more personalised, efficient journeys,' an Uber spokesperson said. CMRL MD M A Siddique said the partnership would help improve connectivity and support CMRL's broader push toward tech-enabled, commuter-friendly solutions.
The Hindu
07-08-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Metro Rail tickets can now be booked via Uber mobile app
Chennai Metro Rail commuters who book their tickets through Uber mobile app will get a 50% discount for a month. Additionally, those who book a ride to or from Metro Rail stations, on Uber Auto or Uber Moto, will get another 50% off up to ₹20. During the launch of this initiative, M.A. Siddique, managing director of Chennai Metro Rail Limited, said the move would benefit thousands of passengers. 'They get one more option of buying a ticket. We want the tickets to be available on as many platforms as possible for the convenience of commuters. We are expanding rapidly, and will change the way people commute in Chennai,' he said. Manikandan Thangarathnam, senior director, mobility and platforms, Uber, said this was a crucial step towards creating a seamless multimodal integration. 'For a passenger, metro is only one leg of his journey. To come to the station, they walk or take an auto. But now we can cover the first and second leg of the journey [in one click with a single payment]. This [move] builds the foundation for people to plan the journey in a single click. That's the experience we want to create,' he said. However, he said that they had to solve some real time variables such as traffic, availability of vehicles, and weather, which determined the time and pricing, and it involved a lot of machine learning and AI algorithms.
The Hindu
07-08-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Chennai Metro commuters can now buy QR ticket within the Uber app
Uber on Thursday (August 7, 2025) expanded its metro ticketing to the Chennai Metro partnering with Chennai Metro Rail (CMRL) utilising Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) interoperable network. Now, Chennai Metro commuters can buy the QR-based ticket from the Uber app and also get the real-time transit information in the app. The payments for metro ticketing will be exclusively through UPI. Earlier, Uber partnered with DMRC to sell QR ticket to Delhi Metro users. To encourage adoption, riders in Chennai will get a 50% discount on metro tickets in the month of August. Additionally, Uber is also offering 50% off up to Rs 20 across both Uber Auto and Uber Moto for rides originating or terminating at metro stations in Chennai. This offer is also valid for the month of August. (For top technology news of the day, subscribe to our tech newsletter Today's Cache) 'Our partnership with CMRL marks a significant milestone in our journey to make urban mobility more seamless, accessible, and efficient. Chennai is a key focus market for Uber, and we're doubling down on efforts to solve everyday commuting challenges for its residents. By integrating metro ticketing into the Uber app, we are simplifying multimodal travel and reinforcing our commitment to being a true one-stop solution for Chennai's mobility needs. This collaboration reflects our belief in harnessing the power of public-private partnerships to build smarter, more connected cities,' said Manikandan Thangarathnam, Senior Director - Mobility and Platforms, Uber. MA Siddique, Managing Director, CMRL, said, 'We are pleased to partner with Uber to enhance the last-mile connectivity experience for Chennai Metro passengers. This collaboration aligns with CMRL's vision of providing world-class, tech-enabled transport solutions that make commuting more convenient and accessible.
Time of India
08-07-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
Built in India, deployed globally: How Uber's AI teams are building for scale
Uber might be best known as a consumer app. But under the hood, it's an AI company at scale, making more than 25 million real-time predictions per day across pricing, matching, routing, and reliability. And increasingly, much of that AI horsepower is being built and refined in India. 'Our India tech teams are building globally scaled AI products that serve both everyday consumers and enterprise partners,' says Manikandan Thangarathnam, Senior Director - Mobility and Platforms, Uber. 'It's a dual-impact strategy driving innovation and efficiency across the platform.' From enabling seamless auto rides in Mumbai to powering intercity trips between Los Angeles and Orange County, AI built in India is shaping Uber's global edge. Not Just Support, India Leads Uber's Bengaluru and Hyderabad engineering centers aren't just execution shops—they're AI innovation hubs. Products like Uber Shuttle, Uber Auto, and Intercity were conceived, built, and scaled entirely from India. Global modules like driver onboarding tech, ML infrastructure, and safety analytics also trace their roots back to these teams. 'Our teams in India don't just support, they lead,' Thangarathnam emphasises. AI powers almost every rider and driver interaction today—from pricing and surge response to ETA estimates. But in Indian cities, where demand can spike unpredictably and traffic patterns are hyperlocal, Uber is training its AI on local nuances. The aim is to minimise cancellations, and ensure smoother trips. According to Thangarathnam, real-time matching has become faster and more accurate, with better arrival predictions. 'We've trained our systems to better understand local traffic and rider patterns,' he says. AI-Powered Onboarding: From Days to Hours For driver-partners, AI simplifies everything from document checks to background verification. 'AI has cut onboarding times from days to hours,' says Thangarathnam. And that's not just a convenience, it's a retention lever. 'When onboarding is simple and supportive, more drivers tend to stick around beyond the early weeks.' Uber's AI dashboards are now empowering its 20,000+ fleet partners to make more intelligent decisions. The dashboards provide easy access for trip analytics, utilisation trends, and predictive insights. 'This has driven improvement in asset use and reduced idle time, helping them grow faster. AI helps fleet partners make faster decisions and elevate service quality with alerts, recommendations, and also gives them real-time route visibility,' he notes. Scaling Smarter Across its 3,000+ services, Uber uses AI to detect, rollback, or self-heal anomalies, often in under five minutes. That saves engineers time and protects uptime. 'They spend less time chasing false alarms and more time building,' Thangarathnam adds. Uber's AI-led localisation engine supports 63 global and 8 Indian languages, and is now 85 per cent automated. That has halved adaptation costs and sped up launch timelines. 'It means people who prefer their local language get a smoother, more personalised experience right from the start,' he notes. With regional laws like India's Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) coming into force, Uber's platform is designed for compliance without fragmentation. 'Data at Uber is anonymised, access-controlled, and tagged by jurisdiction,' which helps scale responsibly across global markets, Thangarathnam explains. AI in Enterprise Logistics AI isn't just powering rides. It's being extended to logistics and enterprise clients, enabling smart routing, demand forecasting, and performance optimisation. 'We're working closely with ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce), to explore last-mile delivery at scale,' he shares. ONDC is India's government-backed initiative to democratise e-commerce, and Uber's collaboration taps into its ambition to create open, interoperable logistics infrastructure. The company has already enabled public transit ticketing on the network and now aims to bring similar innovation to B2B logistics. The next wave of growth and innovation, Uber believes, lies in edge AI—running intelligence directly on devices for faster decisions in low-connectivity zones. 'We're also looking into smarter AI tools that help our teams and systems work more efficiently,' Thangarathnam says. Lessons Beyond Mobility Uber India's AI evolution isn't just about making rides faster or onboarding drivers quicker, it's a blueprint for scalable AI thinking. Localisation is weaved in from day one, not added as an afterthought. Automation goes beyond repetitive tasks where AI agents actively assist decision-making, optimise workflows, and even self-heal before humans step in. And most importantly, the platform's intelligence isn't siloed, it's extended to ecosystem partners, enabling real-time fleet visibility, predictive insights, and shared operational gains.
