Uber Hires Tesla Veteran Rebecca Tinucci as Global Head of Sustainability: 5 Things to Know

Uber Technologies has hired former Tesla Supercharger network executive Rebecca Tinucci as global head of sustainability, she confirmed in a LinkedIn post.

Here are five things to know about Tinucci's executive experience, and Uber's sustainability strategy.

1. Business Scope and Scale: Uber, founded in 2010, is based in San Francisco, California. The global transportation company that specializes in ride sharing, courier services, food delivery and freight transport services. Annual revenues were $37.3 billion in 2023, up from $31.9 billion in 2022.

2. Sustainability Strategy: Uber is striving to become a "zero-emission mobility platform" by 2040. That essentially means 100% of rides and deliveries globally will involve "zero-emission vehicles or through micromobility or public transit," the company asserts.

3. Executive Experience: Tinucci previously was senior director of Tesla's charging infrastructure. She was responsible for managing Tesla's global, charging-related business units including the company's Supercharging and Destination Charging businesses, as well as Charging equipment sales units, her LinkedIn bio states. The position involved managing a team of 500+ employees. Tinucci exited Tesla in May 2024 when CEO Elon Musk shook up the electric vehicle (EV) company -- including the charging network team.

4. Role at Uber: Tinucci will start on September 16, 2024 as global head of sustainability, Bloomberg News reported. She will report to Andrew Macdonald, the top executive in charge of the company’s ride-hailing business, the report said.

5. Executive Perspectives: In a LinkedIn post about joining Uber, Tinucci wrote: "Shouting from the rooftops today - I’m joining Uber as Head of Sustainability.

After many conversations with great people about my next steps, I was still struggling on where to land and how to be truly impactful. Then, Andrew Macdonald emailed me about joining Uber.

Three tenets have always carried me:

1. Find the smartest, most driven people you can. Drew Baglino and the Tesla team were unrelenting in their pursuit of Tesla’s mission. It was incredible. I’m thrilled to have found it again - every person I’ve met at Uber is wicked smart and focused.
2. Chase the big goals. I’ve always said “YES!” to taking on aggressive goals and the most challenging problems. Helping Uber achieve our Sustainability goals, is just that: an audacious, important challenge to attack.
3. Make an impact. Autonomy, electric vehicles, and robotics will reshape our world in the next 20 years and usher in an unprecedented opportunity for a more sustainable future. And Uber sits at the intersection of it all. How’s that for impact?

So yeah, I’m ALL IN!"

Chief Sustainability Officers: Why Technology Partners Should Care

By 2027, 25% of Global 2000 companies will have assigned a chief sustainability officer (CSO) responsible for meeting their organization’s ESG goals and making ESG-related IT purchasing decisions, according to IDC.

The bottom line: Technology partners need to extend their sales, marketing, engagement and support strategies to successfully fulfill those CSO customer needs, Sustainable Tech Partner believes.