Uber has named a new chief financial officer and is adding AI tools to help shippers use its freight business. Uber stock was up Thursday.
After market-close on Wednesday, Uber announced that Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah, chief financial officer of semiconductor company Analog Devices, will take over the same role at Uber on Nov. 13.
Mahendra-Rajah takes over the job from Nelson Chai. Uber Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi had announced on the company's earnings call in June that Chai planned to leave.
On the August earnings call, Khosrowshahi credited Chai, who joined the company in 2018, with helping Uber achieve its first-ever quarter with an operating profit.
Khosrowshahi said in a statement Wednesday that Mahendra-Rajah will "help us deliver even more innovation and efficiency as we continue this next phase of profitable growth."
Uber stock is up 2.8% at 46.40 in recent action on the stock market today. The company's shares have gained more than 80% this year.
Uber Stock: AI Push For Freight Business
Separately, Uber on Thursday said it is rolling out significant upgrades to the software powering its freight business. That includes a product called Insights AI, which the company said will draw on a trove of transportation data to help shippers answer questions and plan routes, among other uses.
The freight business manages more than $18 billion in annual freight capacity, according to its announcement. Uber Freight got a big boost in 2021 with the company's acquisition of logistics platform Transplace for $2.25 billion.
While Uber stock has been on the rise this year, its gains have been driven by its much-larger ride-hailing and food-delivery businesses. Uber Freight posted a 30% sales decline in the second-quarter to $1.3 billion. The company pinned the decline on a "challenging freight market cycle."
Last week, Uber announced it would add a conversational AI assistant to its Uber Eats app. Further, it said the product would help find new restaurants or set up grocery orders.
