After starting the tokenmaxxing panic, Uber's CTO is back with a very different AI story

Uber's Chief Technology Officer, Praveen Neppalli Naga, has returned with a fresh perspective on artificial intelligence, following a previous scare in the industry that saw him at the center of a "tokenmaxxing" controversy. This time, Naga is leading a more promising venture in the AI landscape. He has introduced a new initiative called "Agentic Pods," where Uber's top AI engineers are being dispatched to various departments, including finance, legal, marketing, customer support, HR, and procurement.

The purpose of these two-week teams is to closely observe human workflows, understand the intricacies of each task, and then develop and test AI solutions to enhance these processes. The results have been impressive, with tasks that once took 15 hours now completed in mere 30 minutes, financial reports that used to take two days now ready in just 10 minutes, and marketing quality checks that have been slashed down to less than an hour.

Naga emphasizes that the major improvements typically stem not from speeding up individual tasks but from the complete overhaul of workflows, eliminating redundant approvals, replacing outdated software, and helping employees make decisions faster. This strategy is reminiscent of the "forward-deployed engineer" model popular in Silicon Valley, but with a twist.

Instead of sending these AI experts to external clients, Uber is employing them internally to revolutionize its own business operations. Peter Wilczynski, the Chief Product Officer at Vantortech, humorously referred to this role as the "Rearward Deployed Engineer," highlighting the significance of embedding these engineers deep within corporate structures to redesign entire workflows around AI technologies.