Grab, Southeast Asia’s dominant ride-hailing and delivery platform, has laid out plans to expand its profit base substantially by 2028 by leaning on artificial intelligence and an enlargement of its higher-margin services, company leadership told Reuters.
The plan calls for annual revenue growth in excess of 20% for the next three years and aims to lift adjusted EBITDA to $1.5 billion in 2028 - roughly triple the level recorded last year - according to statements from the firm’s president and chief operating officer.
Management describes the strategy as a shift from the subsidy-driven growth model that characterised early ride-hailing expansion toward a focus on sustainable profitability. The company believes AI-enabled improvements and a more integrated super-app experience - bundling mobility, food delivery and groceries with financial products - will create lower incremental costs for additional services, given the existing high-frequency engagement of its user base.
In practical terms, management expects to squeeze more efficiency from its core app and delivery platform: by cross-selling complementary services to frequent users, the company anticipates lowering the marginal cost of serving each customer while increasing revenue per active user.
Grab is diversifying into financial services and is positioning its data as a competitive advantage in underwriting, with management stating it can calibrate loan risk more precisely than traditional banks by leveraging user behaviour and platform signals.
The company also has made moves beyond its Southeast Asian footprint, taking small stakes outside the region including an acquisition of U.S. wealth platform Stash, though management emphasised that its primary use of cash remains reinvesting in Southeast Asia to drive organic growth.
While open to selective acquisitions, the firm said there are no current plans for a second stock listing, and provided no update on media reports about a potential merger with smaller Indonesian rival GoTo.
Financial and market context
Grab’s shift toward profitability coincided with the company reporting its first-ever full-year net profit in its 2025 results, a milestone that came 14 years after the company’s founding. That achievement followed several rounds of capital raising.
Despite the positive headline of profitability, the company’s guidance for 2026 revenue and adjusted EBITDA fell short of analyst expectations, a miss that pushed the stock lower. Year-to-date, the company’s share price has declined by more than 15%. By comparison, industry peers mentioned alongside Grab posted declines of 11% for Uber and 31% for Lyft over the same period.
Capital allocation and technology partnerships
Management described the company’s ‘‘first and best’’ use of cash as reinvestment into the Southeast Asian operations to foster organic growth, while remaining open to carefully chosen acquisitions. At the same time, Grab is investing in partnerships related to autonomous vehicles and foundation models of AI.
Analysts at Huatai Securities cautioned that heavier investment in autonomous vehicle partnerships and AI could pressure near-term profitability and flagged risks that could slow user penetration and be influenced by macroeconomic volatility.
On AI, Grab is exploring the development of proprietary agents to drive customer loyalty and support drivers and merchants with automated assistants. While the company is working with foundational model providers, management said it prefers to use that technology to construct its own agents rather than directly integrate popular third-party chatbots, arguing that bespoke agents tuned to Grab’s brand and high-frequency use cases will serve customers better.
Summary
Grab is targeting more than 20% annual revenue growth and a threefold increase in adjusted EBITDA to $1.5 billion by 2028, relying on AI, broader grocery and financial service offerings, and efficiency gains from bundling services on its app. The strategy follows the company’s first full-year net profit and comes amid investor scrutiny after guidance that missed expectations.
Key points
- Grab plans to grow revenue by over 20% annually for the next three years and triple adjusted EBITDA to $1.5 billion by 2028.
- The company intends to monetise bundling of mobility, food, groceries and financial services, using platform data to improve underwriting and lower marginal costs for cross-sold services.
- Management is prioritising reinvestment in Southeast Asia for organic growth while remaining open to selective acquisitions and partnerships, including work on autonomous vehicles and AI models.
Risks and uncertainties
- Increased investment in autonomous vehicle programmes and AI capabilities could weigh on near-term profitability.
- There is a risk of slower-than-expected improvement in user penetration, which would hinder revenue expansion and cross-selling opportunities.
- Macroeconomic volatility could impact consumer demand and the company’s ability to meet its financial targets.
These risks have potential implications for sectors including technology, ride-hailing and delivery services, financial services underwriting, and autonomous mobility partnerships.