Uber’s AI-spending caution shows why AI features need measurable productivity loops
The Verge reported on 26 May 2026 that Uber president Andrew Macdonald said AI spending is getting harder to justify, noting that there is not yet a clear connection between AI usage and productivity. The point is important for product teams: AI adoption alone is not the same as operational improvement.
A durable AI roadmap should connect every assistant, agent or automation to a measurable workflow: faster response time, fewer handoffs, higher conversion, lower support load, better data completeness or safer compliance behavior. Without that loop, AI costs can grow faster than evidence of value.
Why it matters for Bubbll
Bubbll should evaluate AI features inside CRM, chat, hotel and restaurant operations by outcome metrics. Good examples include reducing time-to-first-response, improving booking/order follow-up, auto-summarizing customer history for staff, or detecting risky conversations that need human escalation.
Sources
Image: “Artificial Intelligence & AI & Machine Learning” by mikemacmarketing, licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons. License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/