Deliveroo’s new CEO, Miki Kuusi, has outlined plans to accelerate growth through greater investment in merchants, artificial intelligence and autonomous delivery technologies, while urging businesses to ensure every employee becomes “AI fluent”.
Speaking at London Tech Week, Kuusi told The Times’ Technology Business Editor Katie Prescott that AI is the second major technology revolution of his lifetime, warning that businesses that fail to embrace it risk being left behind.
The former founder of Finnish delivery platform Wolt, which was acquired by DoorDash in 2022, took over as CEO of Deliveroo earlier this year following the company’s acquisition by DoorDash.
According to Kuusi, the company’s strategy remains centred on a simple principle: delivering the best possible customer experience for consumers, merchants and riders.
“Ultimately we need to build the best possible customer experience,” he said, adding that Deliveroo’s focus is on improving the inputs that drive long-term growth rather than chasing short-term financial targets.
As part of that strategy, Deliveroo has increased the number of people working on merchant acquisition and sales by more than 50% over the past ten months, with a focus on expanding selection and improving value for customers. The company is also revamping its Deliveroo Plus subscription programme using learnings from DoorDash’s DashPass offering.
Kuusi said the approach is already paying off, with Deliveroo growing by 20% year-on-year, its fastest growth rate in four years.
AI driving everything from recommendations to finance
Artificial intelligence is already embedded throughout Deliveroo’s operations, according to Kuusi.
“Every item you see, every merchant, every recommendation, every carousel in the app is driven by AI models,” he said, describing how machine learning is powering personalisation, logistics optimisation and discovery across the platform.
Beyond customer-facing experiences, Kuusi said AI is transforming internal operations across the business, from customer support and marketing to finance and analytics.
“The work that a lot of analysts used to do is now completely done by AI,” he said, noting that employees are instead spending more time on higher-value tasks and research.
When asked how businesses should approach AI adoption, Kuusi argued that experimentation is essential.
“The most important thing is that you need to make sure that everyone in your company is becoming AI fluent,” he said.
“We’re still in the discovery phase of a lot of this technology and the only way to discover good use cases is by using them.”
He added: “The most dangerous thing you can do is not be paying attention.”
Autonomous delivery remains a key focus
Kuusi also confirmed Deliveroo remains a strong believer in autonomous delivery technologies.
The company already works with partners including Starship, Coco, Wing and Mana across various markets, while DoorDash operates its own autonomous delivery bot platform in parts of the United States.
While stopping short of announcing specific UK deployments, Kuusi suggested autonomy would play an increasing role in Deliveroo’s future and highlighted regulatory barriers as one of the biggest challenges to wider adoption.
“If, as a country, you want to be a first mover in getting these new technologies on your streets, you need to make it a low barrier from a regulatory point of view,” he said.
Technology must work for small businesses
Kuusi also highlighted the role technology platforms can play in helping small merchants benefit from advances in AI.
More than two-thirds of businesses on Deliveroo’s platform are small and medium-sized enterprises, many of which lack dedicated technology teams.
“The average restaurant isn’t thinking about technology all day,” he said. “They’re artists, they’re chefs and operators trying to run a difficult business.”
Deliveroo increasingly sees itself not just as a software partner but also as an AI partner for these businesses, helping them access technologies they may otherwise struggle to adopt.
Looking ahead, Kuusi described the current moment as a potential “golden age” for productivity and innovation, while acknowledging that the pace of change could create significant challenges for businesses, workers and policymakers alike.
