---
title: "Uber's autonomy chief Sarfraz Maredia leaves November 16 with 700 driverless cars due by year-end"
description: "Uber's robotaxi ramp, about 700 driverless cars by year-end and more than 2,000 in 2027 inside a $10 billion commitment, changes hands this week, a month after Waymo said it will book Austin and Atlanta rides on its own app from January 2028. For UBER holders, the question is whether the demand layer outlives its architects."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Robotics & Defense"
published: 2026-11-15T15:26:32.718Z
modified: 2026-11-15T15:26:32.718Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/uber-s-autonomy-chief-sarfraz-maredia-leaves-november-16-with-700-driverless-cars-due-by-year-end
language: en
keywords: "Uber, Robotaxis, Autonomous Vehicles, Waymo, Leadership"
---

# Uber's autonomy chief Sarfraz Maredia leaves November 16 with 700 driverless cars due by year-end

> Uber's robotaxi ramp, about 700 driverless cars by year-end and more than 2,000 in 2027 inside a $10 billion commitment, changes hands this week, a month after Waymo said it will book Austin and Atlanta rides on its own app from January 2028. For UBER holders, the question is whether the demand layer outlives its architects.

## Two architects leave on the same day

Sarfraz Maredia, [Uber](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/uber)'s global head of autonomous mobility and delivery and a 12-year veteran, leaves the company on November 16 for a top executive role outside transportation [1]. He goes alongside Danny Guo, the engineering vice president who ran robotaxi partnerships and AV Labs, the data unit Uber built as its hedge against being cut out of the ride [2]. Successors are named, one layer down: senior director Samarth Kejriwal takes driverless vehicle operations, Aaron Emrich keeps autonomous delivery, and Guo's reports fold under chief technology officer Praveen Neppalli Naga [1][2].

## A year of exits around the $10 billion bet

The autonomy unit had already lost business-development head Guy Peterson and legal counsel Lando Juarez this year [1]. Delivery chief Susan Anderson left in June, and [president Jill Hazelbaker](https://theinference.org/article/uber-policy-chief-jill-hazelbaker-leaves-for-openai-on-november-30-ahead-of-its-ftc-pricing-response), at Uber since 2015, starts at [OpenAI](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/openai) in early December [3]. [September brought 3,300 job cuts, a tenth of the workforce](https://www.automotiveworld.com/news/uber-loses-more-av-leadership-as-exodus-continues/) [2]. No collected coverage says the exits signal doubt in the strategy; Maredia's farewell memo voiced confidence, and Uber says AV momentum has never been stronger [1][2].

## The ramp changes hands mid-climb

The division Maredia leaves scales from roughly 700 fully driverless vehicles expected on Uber by year-end to more than 2,000 in 2027 and the 10,000-plus territory management targets for 2028, inside a [$10 billion autonomous-vehicle ecosystem commitment](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/uber-technologies-inc-uber-q3-150443959.html) [4][2]. The demand layer underneath keeps compounding: a record [215 million monthly active platform consumers](https://investor.uber.com/) in the third quarter, a fifth straight quarter of 20 percent-plus gross bookings growth, and record trailing free cash flow of $10.4 billion [4][5].

*Chart: **Uber's driverless fleet target grows 14x in two years, to 10,000-plus in 2028** Line chart of Uber's fully driverless vehicle guidance rising from about 700 at end-2026 to more than 2,000 in 2027 and 10,000-plus in 2028.*

*Fully driverless vehicles expected on the Uber platform: about 700 at end-2026, more than 2,000 in 2027, 10,000-plus for 2028. Guidance given on the Q3 2026 earnings call of November 4, 2026. All three points are expectations, not reported counts. [2][4]*

## Uber's answer to Waymo is a busier car

[Waymo](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/waymo), [Alphabet](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/alphabet)'s robotaxi arm with more than 4,000 vehicles and over 500,000 paid driverless trips a week, [will book Austin and Atlanta rides on its own app from January 2028](https://theinference.org/article/waymo-ends-its-exclusive-uber-robotaxi-partnership-in-austin-atlanta-in-january-2028-refuses-to-cut-fares) and [turned down Uber's offer of a dedicated robotaxi button](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/waymo-co-ceo-says-uber-134208271.html) [6][7]. Uber's counter is utilization: a 30 percent premium, with driverless cars on its network turning high-20s trips per vehicle a day against low teens for Waymo and [Tesla](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/tesla) in new markets [4]. Management calls the driver-supply squeeze a "good problem" [4].

![A white Waymo Jaguar I-Pace robotaxi with roof sensors crossing a San Francisco intersection](https://storage.googleapis.com/theinference-public/img/c1120f13be00f5cf.jpg)

*A Waymo robotaxi in San Francisco. Waymo says it will book Austin and Atlanta rides on its own app from January 2028, ending the arrangement that puts its cars inside Uber's app. (Daniel Ramirez)*

*Chart: **Uber's driverless cars turn more than twice the daily trips of rivals' cars in new markets** Bar chart of trips per driverless vehicle per day: about 28 on Uber's network, against low teens for Waymo and Tesla in new markets.*

*Trips per driverless vehicle per day, from the ranges management gave on the Q3 2026 earnings call of November 4, 2026: high-20s on Uber's network against low teens for Waymo and Tesla in new markets. Bars plot the middle of each stated band; the range shows the band as given. [4]*

## The first test is dated for early 2027

The new bench's first test is dated: the Lucid-Nuro robotaxi service in the San Francisco Bay Area, part of the [35,000-vehicle order profiled here in October](https://theinference.org/article/uber-s-robotaxi-fleet-belongs-to-suppliers-who-also-sell-to-its-rivals), has slipped to the first quarter of 2027 [2][8]. Then comes January 2028, when Austin riders open the Uber app and the Waymos answer to a rival [2][8]. The ramp to 10,000 cars now belongs to people who did not design it [2][8].

## Takeaway

Uber's robotaxi ramp, about 700 driverless cars by year-end and more than 2,000 in 2027, passes this week to a bench one layer down, a month before Waymo starts answering to its own app in Austin.

## Sources

1. [Bloomberg via Yahoo Finance, Uber autonomous head Maredia to depart as leadership shifts continue, 13 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/uber-autonomous-head-maredia-depart-150118801.html)
2. [Automotive World, Uber loses more AV leadership as exodus continues, 10 November 2026](https://www.automotiveworld.com/news/uber-loses-more-av-leadership-as-exodus-continues/)
3. [The Next Web, Uber president Jill Hazelbaker joins OpenAI as chief corporate affairs officer, collected 5 November 2026](https://thenextweb.com/news/openai-jill-hazelbaker-chief-corporate-affairs-officer-uber)
4. [GuruFocus via Yahoo Finance, Uber Q3 2026 earnings call highlights (call held 4 November 2026), 5 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/uber-technologies-inc-uber-q3-150443959.html)
5. [Uber Technologies investor relations, platform statistics for the quarter ended 30 September 2026, accessed 15 November 2026](https://investor.uber.com/)
6. [Bloomberg via Yahoo Finance, Waymo Co-CEO Says Uber App Deal Was Crapshoot for Riders, 4 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/waymo-co-ceo-says-uber-134208271.html)
7. [InsideEVs, Waymo And Uber's Robotaxi Partnership Is Ending, 4 November 2026](https://insideevs.com/news/814451/waymo-uber-robotaxi-partnership-is-ending/)
8. [The Inference, Uber's robotaxi fleet belongs to suppliers who also sell to its rivals, 26 October 2026](https://theinference.org/article/uber-s-robotaxi-fleet-belongs-to-suppliers-who-also-sell-to-its-rivals)


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Uber's autonomy chief Sarfraz Maredia leaves November 16 with 700 driverless cars due by year-end — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/uber-s-autonomy-chief-sarfraz-maredia-leaves-november-16-with-700-driverless-cars-due-by-year-end