Saswati Saha Mitra, Head of Global Research, Uber: ethics, governance, policy; gender & tech

Saswati (Sas) Saha Mitra has both a diverse background (Literature, Political Science and Business) as well as an extensive career in research having worked for companies such as
Google, Vodafone, Intel, Nokia, Whirlpool, United Spirits and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

She has worked with multidisciplinary teams bringing UX driven product development to their Engineering processes. She helped build low cost smartphones, developed new informational services that users can enjoy with or without data.

In her role with Uber, she manages UX Research for all mega-regions- Latin America, Europe and Middle East, India and Asia Pacific. Amongst her current topics of interest are governance, policy and how AI can reduce frictions of language and decision making in order to make smartphones and internet-based services more intelligent and assistive for users.

In today’s episode we talk to Sas about her past research work with Google and (currently) Uber. We cover topics such as what she values in a researcher, methods used in technology research and stories of impact; ethics, governance, policy and her thoughts on the relationship between government and industry; what it’s like to work with a social scientist and her advice on transitioning from academia to industry. Lastly, she shares her experience working as a woman in the technology sector.

Mentioned in podcast:

Uber Movement https://movement.uber.com/?lang=en-US

Uber app revamp https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/04/uber-driver-app-revamp/557117/

Social media or other links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/saswatisahamitra/