Zeid Hreish

How a Small Team Transformed Mobility for 5M Riders in Saudi - 80% Women

The Challenge

In Saudi Arabia, women faced a major obstacle: mobility.

Without the ability to drive, they couldn’t work, study, or move freely. Public transport was unreliable, private drivers were expensive, and ride-hailing wasn’t built for them.

Fixing this wasn’t just about business—it was about freedom.

How We Made It Happen

We expanded into every major city, making Uber a reliable daily option.

Instead of burning cash like competitors, we spent strategically—high-ROI marketing, referrals, and sustainable growth.

A lean team of ten executed at speed while others relied on big, slow-moving local teams.

We made ride-hailing easy to adopt through localized onboarding, guides, and awareness campaigns.

What Changed Everything

Saudi ran on cash, but Uber didn’t. We pushed HQ to enable it. The result? Business grew 6x overnight, and by 2015, 70% of trips were paid in cash.

We embedded Uber into Saudi culture through brand partnerships, city-specific activations, and creative campaigns—like delivering Hamburgini burgers before food delivery even existed.

Users who dropped off weren’t lost. Smart re-engagement campaigns brought them back and turned them into loyal riders.

The Impact

- Five million riders onboarded.

- Eighty percent were women who now had safe, reliable mobility.

- Uber covered all major cities, making ride-hailing a part of daily life.

- Cash payments unlocked mass adoption.

- A 10-person team transformed an entire market.

This wasn’t just about launching a service, it was about breaking barriers and proving that a focused team can change everything.

"This will never work."

I've heard that at the start of every major innovation I've been part of.

Day 1 at a revolutionary company isn't glamorous:

🚫 No users.

🚫 No infrastructure.

🚫 No guarantee of success.

Just vision, grit, and the courage to start anyway.

My Journey Through "Impossible" Markets:

Uber (MENA): When we launched, people were skeptical.

- "An app replacing taxis in this region? Never."

- Regulators fought us. Drivers were skeptical.

- We built from zero, city by city, driver by driver.

- Today? It's transformed transportation across the region.

CloudKitchens: The skeptics were loud.

- "A restaurant without dine-in space? Brands will never adopt this."

- We created the delivery infrastructure anyway.

- We proved the model works.

- Now it's revolutionizing how restaurants operate globally.

World (Today): We're at another Day 1 moment:

- No Orbs in MENA yet

- No established infrastructure for World ID verification

- Massive opportunity to build something transformative

The Two Biggest Lessons I've Learned:

🚀 Join global startups that move at warp speed. Nothing compares to the pace, the challenge, and the impact. It forces you to adapt, evolve, and build things that truly matter.

🚀 Contribute to something bigger than yourself. The most significant growth happens when you're building for a mission that extends beyond personal gain. That's where real momentum begins.

I thought Uber would be my wildest professional adventure. Now, I'm equally energized about building World across MENA.

If solving "impossible" problems excites you, explore our open roles: https://www.toolsforhumanity.com/careers

What industry have you seen transform from "never going to happen" to massive success? Share your story below! 👇​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Most leaders believe they are focused on impact. But when they look at their schedules, it is a different story:

• Meetings that go nowhere
• Approvals that add zero value
• Work that feels productive but changes nothing

At Uber, we did not have time for that. At CloudKitchens, we moved even faster. If something slowed us down, we killed it on the spot.

Speed wins. Bureaucracy kills. Owners, not renters.

When Bill McDermott took over as CEO of ServiceNow, he met 1,000 customers in 90 days. That is what real focus looks like.

Now AI is making this shift even more urgent. It eliminates inefficiencies and frees up time to focus on what actually moves the needle.

Try this:

✅ Cancel all your recurring meetings for a month. You will only need to bring back 10 percent of them—freeing up hours of wasted time.
📊 Audit your calendar. How much of your time is actually spent on things your customer cares about?
🔄 Bonus tip: Unfollow everyone on Twitter. A fresh feed leads to fresh ideas instead of the same echo chamber.

If it is broken, fix it now. If it is slowing you down, cut it.

What is the biggest time-waster you have eliminated recently? 👇

In 2015, ten of our first Uber drivers in Saudi were raided and stopped for illegal pickups. Regulators weren’t on our side, and we were fighting perception, policy, and an uncertain market. At that point, Uber was still trailing behind the competition in market share.

Most teams would have taken a step back.

Instead, we committed to a big bold bet: “We’re going to get 100,000 Saudis on this platform.”

It sounded crazy in 2015. The odds weren’t in our favor. But we knew one thing: if we could prove Uber’s value, the rules would follow.

The Hustle: Automation, Supply Growth, and Market Domination

We started small. Manual onboarding, hotel training sessions, stacks of paperwork. But we quickly realized that scaling supply needed automation. We streamlined onboarding, allowing drivers to sign up and start earning faster.

At the same time, we focused on supply growth levers to lock in long-term market share:

🚗 Optimized Pricing & Partner Economics – We tested true earnings-per-hour models, reducing Uber ride pricing on rider to maximize driver earnings while minimizing churn.

🇸🇦 Saudization – We secured a dominant Saudi driver base, locking in incentives that protected their earnings. We struck fleet financing and vehicle deals to ensure long-term growth.

⚡ SLOG (Steal-Lock-Grow) – Winning drivers from competitors was just the first step. We built loyalty programs that made Uber the platform of choice.

🤝 Driver Empathy & Cost Reductions – We enhanced driver Momentum programs, securing exclusive discounts on oil changes, maintenance, and key cost-saving initiatives.

✔️ Quality & Consistency – As supply grew, so did the need for higher standards. We partnered with third-party vehicle audit and training centers to ensure top-tier service.

The regulatory battles weren’t won by fighting, they were won by proving impact. Instead of pushing for permission, we demonstrated Uber was creating tens of thousands of new jobs for Saudis.

As trust grew, so did our market share. We went from 40% to 60%, turning Uber from a challenger to the dominant force in ride-hailing.

Then came the moment of validation, the day we hit 100,000 Saudi drivers on the platform. But we didn’t stop there. We doubled it. 250,000 drivers. The Saudi government publicly recognized the milestone, celebrating it as an achievement that transformed economic opportunities for drivers in the region.

That moment wasn’t just about scale, it was about proving that we belonged.

The Lesson?

If you want to win a market, align with what truly matters; people, policymakers, and economic value.

If you want to change regulations, prove you belong.

If you want to set records, set a goal that sounds impossible and then double it.

What’s a time you bet big on a market and won?

P.S. – Travis Kalanick’s trip to Saudi wasn’t just a visit; it was a game-changer. It strengthened relationships with key stakeholders, reinforced Uber’s commitment to the market, and helped secure a $3.5 billion investment; one of the largest in Uber’s history. It proved that aligning with economic priorities wins markets, not just access.

It’s been almost seven years, and I still get asked this. 

Maybe because everything after Uber worked out so well.

It’s a great question the kind that makes you pause, take a breath, and really think. Because leaving at your peak isn’t the obvious move.

Uber was a rocket ship. I was one of the first in MENA, launching city after city, moving millions of people, and onboarding hundreds of thousands of drivers. It was fast, chaotic, and relentless. Everything was on fire, all the time.

There was a point where I could land in a city, turn on Uber, and within hours, I’d be in a car with a driver who had no idea I worked at Uber, telling me how I should use Uber more. That’s when I knew we had won.

Most people left after a year or two — I stayed for nearly five years (basically an eternity in Uber time). I saw the highs, the lows, and everything in between.

So why leave?

Because after five years of hypergrowth, I had seen every kind of problem, solved them at scale, and built something massive. I had pressed every button. It was time to press reset and build again.

Sometimes the best decision you can make is to press reset.

Uber was one of the best experiences of my life. But growth isn’t about holding on to the past — it’s about building what’s next. And that’s exactly what I did.