Dara Khosrowshahi: Why decline can compound just like growth

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

February 23, 2026

Duration

1h 43m

Channel

The Diary of a CEO

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi reveals the future of driverless cars, how he led Uber’s financial turnaround, his family’s escape from Iran in 1978, and the truth about AI, automation, and job loss! Dara Khosrowshahi is the CEO of Uber and successfully transformed the company from losing $3 billion a year to generating over $9 billion in free cash flow. He previously served as CEO of Expedia for over a decade, scaling the company into a global leader in online travel. He explains: ◼️The "wartime" leadership strategy he used to save Uber from collapse ◼️Why telling the uncomfortable truth is the only way to scale a company ◼️His undercover experience as a driver and why it changed the app ◼️Why 80% of jobs face total disruption from AI automation by 2035 ◼️The truth about autonomous vehicles and banning humans from driving 00:00 Intro 03:33 Why Fleeing Iran Shaped My Risk Tolerance And Resilience 10:17 The Hardest Realization About Having Kids And Their Future 16:52 Do Engineers Actually Make Better CEOs — Or Worse? 18:11 How To Spot The One Person Worth Betting Your Career On 19:17 What Separates A Good Employee From A Truly Great One 20:52 Why Rejection Is The Hidden Engine Behind Every Successful Business 26:48 How To Spot Big Transitions Before Everyone Else Does 32:52 The Jevons Paradox: Why Efficiency Can Backfire 39:48 Why Radical Transparency Makes You A Stronger CEO 46:54 Can You Really Turn A Comfortable Team Into A Hungry One? 49:44 Ads 51:11 The Career Advice Young People Need — But Rarely Hear 57:38 How To Build A Culture Of Continuous Improvement That Never Stalls 01:01:55 Why Most Teams Fail At Goals — And How To Set Ones That Actually Work 01:06:58 What Happens When Leadership Alignment Breaks Down 01:13:54 How AI Is Reshaping Our Business — And What We’re Doing Next 01:18:53 Why 90% Of Our Coders Now Rely On AI — And What That Changes 01:23:44 Will AI Replace 9.5 Million Uber Drivers — Or Create Something Bigger? 01:35:06 The Best Advice For Thriving In An AI-Dominated Future Enjoyed the episode? Share this link and earn points for every referral - redeem them for exclusive prizes: https://doac-perks.com Follow Dara: X - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/8IAzCZd The Diary Of A CEO: ◼️Join DOAC circle here - https://doaccircle.com/ ◼️Buy The Diary Of A CEO book here - https://smarturl.it/DOACbook ◼️The 1% Diary is back - limited time only: https://bit.ly/3YFbJbt ◼️The Diary Of A CEO Conversation Cards (Second Edition): https://g2ul0.app.link/f31dsUttKKb ◼️Get email updates - https://bit.ly/diary-of-a-ceo-yt ◼️Follow Steven - https://g2ul0.app.link/gnGqL4IsKKb Sponsors: WHOOP: https://JOIN.WHOOP.COM/CEO for one month free Shopify - https://shopify.com/bartlett Wispr: Get 14 days of Wispr Flow for free at https://wisprflow.ai/STEVEN

🎤 SPEAKERS

• Dara Khosrowshahi

  guest

• Steven Bartlett

  host

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of The Diary of a CEO, featuring Dara Khosrowshahi and Steven Bartlett, Dara Khosrowshahi: Why decline can compound just like growth explores dara Khosrowshahi on relentless performance, transparency, and AI disruption Dara Khosrowshahi traces his drive and risk tolerance to fleeing Iran after the 1978 revolution, watching his family lose everything, and later rebuilding in the U.S.

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