Technologically Yours: How Bangalore is Driving Uber

The US-based ride-hailing app, Uber, has never been shy about having its tech roots in Bangalore. The cab aggregator has been complemented by its sprawling tech centre in the Indian Silicon Valley.

To support migration between platforms, Uber has invested in reliability engineering tools through the Bangalore engineering hub. Apart from facilitating migration, they continuously monitor their new system's reliability post-migration.

One of the notable projects to have come out of the tech hub is Uber's unified tech stack that allows the teams to combine different software tools so everything works smoothly together. 

“Uber’s unified Mobility and Eats tech stacks benefit all Uber customers regardless of the line of business they engage with,” stated Madan Thangavelu, Uber’s senior director of engineering in an exclusive interaction with AIM.

The Uber executive recalled that when the pandemic hit, Uber's global mobility business was the largest contributor of trips on its tech stack. Things took a turn during the series of global lockdowns forcing people to stay indoors. Uber’s food delivery business surged in terms of the magnitude of orders being placed, and the team found themselves serving two equally large businesses with two distinct tech stacks.

The shared tech foundation was a two for one deal for the engineering team. “Innovations like reservation and upfront driver assignment seamlessly transcend both domains, requiring minimal tweaks for optimal functionality,” he noted. “Similarly, when we rolled out the tech to offer a job to multiple drivers to improve acceptance rate, we were able to roll this out to delivery services as well,” added the decade old Uber employee. 

He further mentioned that the cost of operating a trip is a critical metric for the business. The Indian team has continued to make significant tech investments to reduce the cost of servers, database resources, and data storage resources. “This means that both businesses benefit from our reduced cost of operations, underlining our dedication to efficiency and sustainability,” Thangavelu explained. 

The integration of two platforms is about maintaining consistency between old and new systems, he pointed out. 

The Three-Year Tech Tale

Three years ago, merging the tech infrastructure for both Uber Mobility and Uber Eats wasn't just a whim—it was a necessity. Many features, from tracking earners on their routes to verifying pickups, overlapped between the two. Recognising this, Thangavelu and his team streamlined their operations and invested in Indian tech centres to develop talent towards all functions of the business infrastructure. 

Merging the extensive tech stacks was a journey on a three-fold path. First up was the 'organisational setup' to make sure that the teams handling delivery and rides were on the same page. The step helped them wrap their heads around earners, fulfilment, fares, pricing, and matching tech stacks posed challenges, said Thangavelu. 

Then came the gradual 'tech strategy development' during which the fulfilment stack underwent a full rewrite. “We had to rethink our tech approach from the ground up, introducing Java alongside innovative in-house programming frameworks to encapsulate complex business logic seamlessly. The risky endeavour of rewrites showcased our commitment to high-quality engineering and demonstrated a smooth transition with no downtime,” the executive elaborated.

Lastly, it was time for the multi-site execution plan as large-scale redesigns necessitate collaboration. "Our approach involved a central team rewriting 80% of the code, complemented by decentralised product teams contributing 20%. This strategy, coupled with a multi-site approach involving teams across the US, Canada and Bangalore, ensured resource availability and successful completion of these significant rewrites. Overcoming challenges in collaboration, project coordination, and team training were pivotal for success." 

He explained that this involved multiple rounds of restructuring of teams to settle on the final organisational structure. During the same time, the tech company was in the headlines for laying off a chunk of its workforce, including engineering teams in the US, citing ‘streamlining costs’. But this was not the case in India. 

Thangavelu noted that, despite initial restructuring, sub-groups still managed separate tech systems for each business. “We embarked on a phased tech overhaul, particularly revamping Uber's fulfilment stack with Java and custom frameworks. While a core team tackled 80% of the coding, decentralised groups handled the rest, with collaboration spanning the US, Canada, and Bangalore. Overcoming coordination hurdles was key to our seamless transition and commitment to top-notch engineering,” he said. 

Speaking Design

With the tech revamp, Uber re-envisioned its whole user experience. The company has shifted from the old one-trip approach to a model accommodating multiple trips within a given order, whether it's riders or couriers.

The engineering chief believes, “This design evolution holds immense potential as our product portfolio expands. It empowers us to seamlessly integrate tech features representing scenarios such as summoning multiple cars, orchestrating large HCV bus trips with concurrent riders, or optimising courier deliveries with multiple packages.”

He mentioned that some of the benefits are internally realised and will soon make their way into the customer-facing app for better ordering and tracking experience than what is available today.