Uber CEO reveals the passenger behaviors that irked him when he became an undercover boss

• Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi was reportedly not thrilled by some of the passengers he drove around.
• The executive described in a Wired interview his insight into how drivers get treated and assessed.

The CEO of Uber said he gained more insight into the experience of drivers on the ride-hailing service when he assumed an undercover identity and started taking fares himself.

His furtive stints driving for the platform were "fun and pleasant," Dara Khosrowshahi told Wired in an interview, but he said he didn't much care for the seemingly oblivious customers engaging in loud conversations during the ride.

"One thing I didn't like was passengers who talk on their phone on speaker," he told the outlet. "It's almost as if you're not there."

"You have to respect that because it's their ride and they're paying for it," he added.

Khosrowshahi has driven the platform's customers in San Francisco, using the fake name "Dave K," according to a Wall Street Journal report. At the time too, Khosrowshahi had indicated a similar grievance about customers assuming they have privacy and acting as if a driver wasn't there with them.

He'd also told the WSJ then that he'd experienced the phenomenon of "tip baiting," collecting lower tips than expected once the job was done because customers would opportunistically slash them.

In his more recent interview with Wired, he said that his experience gave him a sense for how drivers may have to be deferential to customers who get to rate them each ride. He said it had made him feel "nervous" as a driver, something he'd also previously indicated to the WSJ.

"As a CEO, the board gives me a performance rating at the end of year," he told Wired. "Drivers essentially get a performance review after every trip."

Uber did not immediately respond to Insider's request for any additional comment ahead of publication.

On Tuesday, Uber also shared its earnings for the second quarter of 2023, with Khosrowshahi saying in the company's statement that it had its first operating profit. The company indicated a $394 million profit for the quarter, a significant jump from the $2.6 billion net loss over the same period last year.