In a big jolt to Uber, its Chief Product Officer Manik Gupta has announced his decision to quit the company to pursue the "next big adventure".
In a note addressed to Uber's product team, Gupta who joined the ride-hailing company in 2015 from Google said his last working day will be December 13.
"The end of November marks 4 years for me at Uber, and as we've been planning our strategy for next year, I've been doing my own personal 2020 planning.
"After a few discussions with Dara as well as with my family.. and now that we've made it through the IPO and an important year for the company I've made the tough decision to leave Uber," he wrote.
According to a TechCrunch report on Wednesday, Uber does not have another chief product officer lined up, so "the plan is for Gupta to stay on for a bit during this transition and help the company find his replacement".
"As for what's next for me, you only get a few moments in your life to take a break, and with the holidays coming up and before my son starts middle school mid-next year, I plan to spend some quality time with family and recharge before my next adventure," said Gupta, thanking Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi for the opportunity to lead the product team.
India is at the core of Uber's growth strategy for the next five to 10 years, the company's CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Khosrowshahi Along with Gupta launched Uber's new journey planning feature "Public Transport" in New Delhi in October.
The Uber CEO said that the company is investing in talent in India to develop products that can be launched in other markets as well.
Gupta said that the company is currently on an aggressive hiring spree in India.
"Our hope is that we will go to about 1,000 people. We will almost double the size of our Uber investment both in the engineering and product side over the coming years," Gupta had told IANS.
Uber has reportedly laid off more than 1,000 employees across its marketing, engineering, product, Eats, self-driving and other verticals this year including in India.
In the last two years, the cab aggregator has seen several high-profile executives leaving the company, like Chief People Officer Liane Hornsey and APAC Head of Uber, Amit Jain.