As DoorDash drives through a huge tech re-platforming, can it deliver a future built on AI and AVs?

Life was a lot simpler once for DoorDash CEO Tony Xu when he co-founded a takeaway delivery firm 13 years ago. Today he has a global problem and one that he’s setting out to resolve with an impressively ambitious, if daunting, programme of tech transformation works.

DoorDash’s problem is one of complexity, specifically the complexity stemming from running three tech platforms to support three businesses - DoorDash, Wolt, and UK courier Deliveroo, acquired by the US firm for $3.38 billion last year - operating in the same space. The solution is to re-platform globally across the 40 countries in which a DoorDash firm operates around a single tech stack.

This new platform will also be built with DoorDash’s expanded commercial interests at heart. While the firm started as a basic restaurant delivery service, today its operating footprint has expanded significantly. Around 30% of customers now come from outside ...