When people search for uber chief business officer, they are often looking for information about the executive who helps shape Uber’s growth strategy, partnerships, corporate development, and investment activities. At present, Madhu Kannan serves as the Chief Business Officer at Uber. According to Uber’s leadership information, Kannan oversees the company’s global business development, corporate development, and investment functions, placing him in an important position within the company’s executive leadership structure.
The role of an uber chief business officer is particularly significant because Uber has evolved far beyond its original identity as a ride-hailing company. The business now operates across multiple areas, including mobility, delivery, business transportation and an increasingly important ecosystem of strategic relationships and technology partnerships. As Uber expands its platform and explores new opportunities, the executive responsible for business development and corporate development plays an important role in identifying where the company can grow, collaborate, invest and create long-term value.
Madhu Kannan brings a background that combines corporate strategy, investment banking, business development, financial markets and executive leadership. His career includes senior positions at Tata Sons, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, NYSE Euronext and the Bombay Stock Exchange. He first joined Uber in 2017 as Chief Business Officer for Asia-Pacific before leaving the company and later returning in 2023.
Understanding the uber chief business officer therefore requires more than simply knowing the name of the person holding the position. It also means understanding what the position does, why business development matters to Uber, how Kannan’s career prepared him for the job and how the role fits into Uber’s broader corporate strategy.
Who Is the Uber Chief Business Officer?
The current uber chief business officer is Madhu Kannan. He is part of Uber’s executive leadership team and is responsible for major business development, corporate development and investment activities on a global level. Uber’s current leadership information lists Kannan alongside other senior executives, including Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi, President and Chief Operating Officer Andrew Macdonald, Chief Financial Officer Balaji Krishnamurthy and Chief Legal Officer Tony West.
Kannan’s position is different from that of Uber’s CEO because his responsibilities are focused particularly on business opportunities, strategic relationships, corporate development and investments. Rather than managing every operational aspect of Uber, the uber chief business officer works at the strategic level to help determine where and how the company can expand its business interests.
This can involve evaluating potential partnerships, identifying investment opportunities, developing relationships with companies and organizations, and helping Uber assess strategic opportunities that could strengthen its platform. Because Uber operates internationally, these decisions can involve multiple markets and different categories of business.
The position is therefore closely connected to Uber’s long-term growth ambitions. A company operating at Uber’s scale needs more than strong products. It also needs relationships, partnerships, investments and strategic decisions that can help the company adapt to changing markets.
Madhu Kannan’s Career Before Becoming Uber Chief Business Officer
Madhu Kannan has a diverse professional background that helps explain why he is well suited to the role of uber chief business officer.
Before joining Uber, Kannan built experience in several areas of finance and corporate development. Uber states that he previously served as Group Head of Business Development at Tata Sons. He also became Chief Executive Officer of the Bombay Stock Exchange, and earlier worked in senior positions at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch and NYSE Euronext.
This combination of experience is important because the Chief Business Officer role requires an understanding of both corporate strategy and financial decision-making. Business development is not simply about finding companies to work with. It requires evaluating whether a potential relationship or investment makes strategic and financial sense.
Kannan’s career across investment banking, exchanges, corporate development and large business organizations gave him exposure to different parts of the corporate world. His work at Tata Sons, for example, provided experience in business development within one of India’s major business groups, while his financial-market experience gave him an understanding of capital markets and corporate transactions.
His background also includes international exposure. That is especially relevant to Uber because the company operates across a large number of countries and markets. Strategic decisions at a global technology platform often require an understanding of different regulatory environments, customer behaviors, business models and competitive landscapes.
Madhu Kannan’s First Role at Uber
Kannan’s relationship with Uber did not begin with his current global position. He first joined the company in 2017 as Chief Business Officer for Asia-Pacific. Uber announced his appointment at the time as part of its efforts to grow its business across India and emerging markets in the Asia-Pacific region.
His original responsibilities included helping Uber pursue strategic partnerships and investment opportunities in the region. This was an important assignment because Asia-Pacific represented a major area of potential growth for technology and mobility businesses.
Working in a regional Chief Business Officer role would also have given Kannan direct experience with the practical challenges of expanding a technology platform across different markets. Business development in one country can look very different from business development in another. Partnerships, regulations, consumer preferences and competitive conditions can vary considerably.
That regional experience became part of the foundation for his later global responsibilities.
Why Did Madhu Kannan Return to Uber?
After his first period at Uber, Kannan moved to Bank of America Securities, where he served as Executive Vice Chair in Global Corporate & Investment Banking. He later returned to Uber in 2023. Uber’s leadership biography confirms that his return followed this period at Bank of America Securities.
His return is notable because it brought him back to a company he already understood while adding further experience from the financial and corporate banking world.
For a business such as Uber, this combination can be valuable. The company has to consider not only operational growth but also investments, strategic partnerships, corporate transactions and long-term opportunities. Someone with experience in both technology-company business development and investment banking can bring a broad perspective to those decisions.
When Kannan returned to Uber, his responsibilities became global rather than limited to a particular region. His current role therefore represents a broader version of the type of work he performed during his first period at the company.
What Does the Uber Chief Business Officer Do?
The responsibilities of the uber chief business officer can be understood through three major areas: business development, corporate development and investments.
Global Business Development
Business development is about finding opportunities that can strengthen or expand Uber’s business. These opportunities can include strategic partnerships, commercial relationships and other forms of collaboration.
For Uber, partnerships can be particularly important because the company’s platform interacts with transportation providers, businesses, merchants, technology companies and other organizations.
The Chief Business Officer can help identify relationships that complement Uber’s existing capabilities. A successful partnership may allow Uber to reach new customers, enter a new market, improve an existing service or gain access to useful technology or expertise.
The role requires careful evaluation because not every partnership creates meaningful value. The executive must consider the strategic fit, financial potential, operational complexity and long-term implications of an opportunity.
Corporate Development
Corporate development generally involves strategic transactions and major corporate opportunities. For a large public company, this can include acquisitions, investments, strategic combinations and other forms of corporate activity.
As uber chief business officer, Kannan’s corporate development responsibilities are important because Uber continually evaluates how it can strengthen its platform and expand its capabilities.
Corporate development decisions can influence the company for years. An acquisition or investment may provide new technology, talent, customers, geographic reach or complementary services. At the same time, such decisions involve financial and operational risks.
That means corporate development requires a combination of strategic thinking, financial analysis, negotiation and long-term planning.
Investments
Investment activities are another important component of Kannan’s responsibilities. Uber’s leadership biography specifically identifies investment functions among the areas he oversees.
Investments can allow a company to establish relationships with emerging businesses or gain exposure to technologies and industries that may become important in the future.
For a company operating in transportation, delivery and technology, investment opportunities can emerge across many areas. These may include mobility technology, autonomous vehicles, logistics, artificial intelligence and other technologies related to the future of transportation and commerce.
The Chief Business Officer must therefore think beyond immediate financial returns. Strategic relevance can be just as important when evaluating an investment.
How the Uber Chief Business Officer Fits Into Uber’s Leadership
The uber chief business officer works within a broader executive structure. Uber’s current leadership team includes executives responsible for operations, finance, legal affairs, product, technology, mobility and other areas.
This structure reflects the complexity of Uber as a global technology platform.
The CEO establishes the overall direction of the company, while different members of the executive team manage specialized areas. The Chief Business Officer contributes by identifying and developing external opportunities that support the company’s overall strategy.
This makes the position highly collaborative. Business development decisions can affect product teams, financial teams, legal departments, operations and regional organizations. A potential partnership, for example, may require financial analysis, legal agreements, product integration and operational execution.
The Chief Business Officer therefore acts as an important bridge between Uber and the outside business world.
The Importance of Partnerships to Uber
Partnerships have played an important role in Uber’s development. The company’s business model depends on connecting different groups through its technology platform, including riders, drivers, merchants, businesses and other partners.
As Uber becomes a broader platform, partnerships can become even more important.
A technology company does not necessarily need to build every capability internally. In some cases, working with an established company can accelerate expansion, reduce costs or provide expertise that would take years to develop independently.
The uber chief business officer can help determine which external relationships are worth pursuing and how those relationships fit into Uber’s larger strategy.
This is particularly relevant as the company explores new forms of mobility and transportation technology.
Uber’s Expanding Business Strategy
Uber today is considerably broader than the company many consumers knew during its early years. Its platform includes mobility and delivery, while Uber for Business and other products contribute to the company’s overall ecosystem.
Uber’s recent financial results demonstrate the scale of its current business. In the second quarter of 2026, Uber reported 3.9 billion trips, while Gross Bookings reached $58.0 billion. The company also reported strong growth in Uber for Business, with Gross Bookings for that business growing more than 40% year over year.
These figures help explain why the role of an uber chief business officer is increasingly strategic.
At this scale, even small improvements in partnerships, corporate development or investment strategy can have significant consequences. Similarly, a poorly chosen transaction or partnership could create substantial costs.
The Chief Business Officer must therefore balance opportunity with discipline.
The Uber Chief Business Officer and Autonomous Vehicles
One of the major areas shaping Uber’s future is autonomous mobility.
Uber has increasingly emphasized its strategy around autonomous vehicles and partnerships with companies involved in autonomous technology. Its 2026 financial communication described a goal of building a large platform for autonomous vehicles while continuing to develop its cross-platform strategy.
This area is especially relevant to the uber chief business officer because autonomous transportation involves partnerships between technology companies, vehicle manufacturers, autonomous-driving developers and mobility platforms.
Uber does not necessarily need to manufacture autonomous vehicles itself to benefit from autonomous mobility. Instead, its platform could potentially provide access to customers, demand, logistics and transportation services while technology and automotive partners provide autonomous-driving capabilities.
Business development and corporate partnerships can therefore become central to how such an ecosystem develops.
The Uber Chief Business Officer and Global Expansion
Global expansion is another major part of the business development function.
Uber operates in markets with different regulations, cultures, transportation systems and economic conditions. A strategy that works in one country may not work in another.
This makes international experience valuable for the uber chief business officer.
Kannan’s earlier responsibility for Asia-Pacific gave him experience in one of the world’s most diverse and strategically important regions. His broader career also exposed him to international financial markets and multinational organizations.
Global business development requires an understanding of local conditions while maintaining consistency with the company’s overall strategy.
The challenge is to identify opportunities that can scale without ignoring the unique characteristics of individual markets.
Education and Professional Background of Madhu Kannan
Madhu Kannan’s educational background combines engineering, economics and finance.
According to Uber, he earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree with honors in electrical engineering and electronics and a Master of Science degree with honors in economics from BITS, Pilani. He also earned an MBA in finance from Vanderbilt University.
This academic combination is particularly relevant to his career.
Engineering can provide a technical foundation, while economics helps develop an understanding of markets and incentives. An MBA in finance adds knowledge of corporate finance, investments and business strategy.
Together, these disciplines can support the kind of cross-functional thinking required from a senior business executive.
Why the Uber Chief Business Officer Role Matters
The uber chief business officer is important because growth at a company of Uber’s size cannot rely exclusively on internal product development.
External opportunities can accelerate growth.
A strategic partnership can provide access to technology or customers. An investment can create exposure to a promising new market. An acquisition can bring capabilities that would otherwise take years to build.
At the same time, Uber must maintain financial discipline. Its recent financial performance has given the company significant resources for investment and strategic opportunities, with Uber reporting more than $10 billion in trailing twelve-month free cash flow for the first time in its history in its second-quarter 2026 results.
This makes the business development function especially important. The company has more capacity to pursue opportunities, but it must decide which opportunities deserve attention and capital.
How the Role Has Changed Over Time
The title uber chief business officer has been associated with different executives during Uber’s history.
For example, earlier Uber executives held Chief Business Officer positions with different geographic or functional responsibilities. In 2017, Madhu Kannan was appointed Chief Business Officer for India and emerging markets, while Brooks Entwistle was appointed Chief Business Officer for Asia-Pacific later that year.
The role has therefore evolved alongside Uber.
As Uber became larger and more diversified, business development became increasingly global. The modern position under Kannan encompasses global business development, corporate development and investments rather than being limited to a single geographical region.
That evolution reflects the broader transformation of Uber itself.
Uber Chief Business Officer Versus Uber CEO
It is useful to distinguish the uber chief business officer from the Uber CEO.
The CEO is responsible for the overall company and sets its broad strategic direction. The Chief Business Officer has a more specialized mandate centered on external business opportunities, corporate development and investments.
The two roles are closely connected.
The CEO can establish strategic priorities, while the Chief Business Officer can help turn those priorities into partnerships, transactions and investment opportunities.
For example, if Uber identifies a particular technology as strategically important, the business development team may investigate potential partners or investment targets that can help the company develop that capability.
The Chief Business Officer therefore contributes to strategy not by operating every part of the company, but by helping shape the external opportunities available to it.
What Makes a Strong Chief Business Officer?
A successful Chief Business Officer generally needs several skills.
First is strategic judgment. The executive must recognize which opportunities have genuine long-term value.
Second is financial understanding. Partnerships and acquisitions often involve complex financial considerations.
Third is negotiation ability. Large corporate partnerships can involve multiple stakeholders with different priorities.
Fourth is relationship building. Business development depends heavily on trust and long-term relationships.
Fifth is international awareness. For a global company such as Uber, opportunities can emerge in many countries and regions.
Kannan’s career reflects many of these characteristics. His experience across Tata Sons, financial institutions, stock exchanges and Uber gives him exposure to different sides of business development and corporate strategy.
The Future of the Uber Chief Business Officer
The future responsibilities of the uber chief business officer are likely to remain closely connected to Uber’s expansion as a global technology platform.
Autonomous vehicles are one important area. Partnerships around autonomous mobility could significantly influence transportation in the coming years.
Artificial intelligence and technology are also likely to remain relevant. As digital platforms become more sophisticated, companies need strategic relationships that help them access new technologies and capabilities.
Another important area is the continued development of Uber’s ecosystem. Mobility, delivery and business services can become more valuable when they operate together rather than as completely separate products.
The Chief Business Officer can help identify ways to connect these different parts of the company through strategic relationships and investments.
Madhu Kannan’s Broader Professional Experience
One of the most interesting aspects of Kannan’s career is the variety of industries and organizations in which he has worked.
His experience at Tata Sons provided exposure to corporate business development. His time at the Bombay Stock Exchange gave him experience running a major financial institution. His positions at Bank of America and NYSE Euronext exposed him to global financial markets and corporate strategy.
His first period at Uber then added experience in technology and mobility.
That combination is unusual because it brings together financial markets, corporate development and technology-platform experience.
For an executive responsible for evaluating strategic opportunities, such a broad background can be particularly valuable.
Why People Search for “Uber Chief Business Officer”
The keyword uber chief business officer can have several search intentions.
Some people may simply want to know who currently holds the position. Others may be researching Madhu Kannan’s career, education or professional history.
Business professionals may want to understand what the position means within Uber’s corporate structure. Investors may be interested in how business development and corporate development contribute to Uber’s strategy.
Job seekers and students may also search for the term because they want to understand what a Chief Business Officer actually does at a major technology company.
The answer is broader than a simple job title. At Uber, the role is connected to some of the company’s most important external growth opportunities.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Uber Chief Business Officer
Who is the current Uber Chief Business Officer?
The current uber chief business officer is Madhu Kannan. He oversees global business development, corporate development and investment functions at Uber.
When did Madhu Kannan first join Uber?
Madhu Kannan first joined Uber in 2017 as Chief Business Officer for Asia-Pacific and later returned to Uber in 2023 after working at Bank of America Securities.
What does the Uber Chief Business Officer do?
The uber chief business officer oversees major functions related to global business development, corporate development and investments. These responsibilities involve identifying strategic opportunities, developing partnerships and evaluating corporate and investment opportunities.
What companies did Madhu Kannan work for before Uber?
Before and between his periods at Uber, Kannan held senior positions at Tata Sons, the Bombay Stock Exchange, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, Bank of America Securities and NYSE Euronext.
What did Madhu Kannan study?
Kannan studied electrical engineering and electronics and economics at BITS, Pilani, and later earned an MBA in finance from Vanderbilt University.
Is the Uber Chief Business Officer part of Uber’s executive leadership?
Yes. Uber’s current leadership information identifies Madhu Kannan as Chief Business Officer within its executive leadership structure.
Final Thoughts on the Uber Chief Business Officer
The uber chief business officer is an important executive position that reflects how much Uber has grown beyond its original ride-hailing model. Today, business development, corporate development and investments can influence how Uber enters new areas, builds strategic relationships and prepares for future changes in transportation and technology.
Madhu Kannan currently holds the position and brings an unusually broad combination of financial, corporate, international and technology-platform experience to the role. His first period at Uber began in 2017 with responsibility for Asia-Pacific, and after additional senior experience outside the company, he returned to Uber in 2023 and eventually took on the global Chief Business Officer role.
His responsibilities are especially significant at a time when Uber is pursuing growth across mobility and delivery while developing its broader platform strategy. The company’s recent results show substantial scale and continued growth, while its focus on autonomous vehicles and strategic opportunities creates additional importance for partnerships, corporate development and investment decisions.
Ultimately, understanding the uber chief business officer means understanding the executive function behind many of the opportunities that exist beyond Uber’s everyday operations. The role connects Uber with potential partners, investments, technologies and corporate opportunities, helping the company decide where it should compete, collaborate and invest next.
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