Uber CTO Praveen Neppalli Naga joins the StrictlyVC SF speaker list, and that’s actually interesting

StrictlyVC San Francisco just got a lot more interesting. Uber CTO Praveen Neppalli Naga is the newest speaker added to the April 30 event at the Sentro Filipino Cultural Center. If you’ve been following the lineup, you know it was already pretty solid. But this addition feels like the kind of talk that could actually deliver substance rather than just buzzwords.

Neppalli Naga isn’t some random exec parachuted in for PR. He’s been running Uber’s technical operations through one of the most chaotic periods in the company’s history. I’m talking about the shift from growth-at-all-costs to actually needing to be profitable while still scaling globally. That’s hard enough without throwing AI into the mix.

The session is titled “Operating at scale in the age of AI.” That’s a phrase that gets thrown around a lot, but Uber is one of the few companies where it actually means something. They handle millions of trips daily, real-time routing, dynamic pricing, and now they’re betting big on autonomous vehicles and AI-driven logistics. This isn’t theoretical.

What I’m hoping to hear is how they balance the old-school operational challenges — like keeping the app running when a million people request rides simultaneously — with the new demands of AI. Because AI isn’t just another feature. It changes how you think about infrastructure, latency, and even team structure. Uber’s been through multiple reorgs, and I’d bet the CTO has some strong opinions on what works and what doesn’t.

The event is on April 30, and tickets are still available if you’re in the Bay Area. I’m not usually one to hype conferences, but when a CTO from a company that actually moves physical stuff (not just data) talks about AI at scale, it’s worth paying attention to. Let’s hope he doesn’t just read a press release.