Grab, a prominent super-app in Southeast Asia, has adopted generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and agentic AI as part of its growth strategy to introduce new features.
The company anticipates that these new features will attract new users and encourage cross-sales among existing ones. Grab projects a revenue growth of 19-22% year-on-year for this year, estimating total revenue to reach between $3.33 billion and $3.40 billion.
In 2024, Grab reported a gross merchandise value (GMV) of $10.4 billion in the regional food delivery market, which is valued at $129 billion. In Thailand, the company held a 46% share of the market’s GMV last year, amounting to $4.2 billion.
“Grab is leveraging advanced technologies like large language models (LLM) and agentic AI to solve real issues and cater to the genuine needs of users. Our ‘AI-First with Heart’ philosophy places AI at the center of our operations and developments, while always keeping our users’ needs in focus,” stated group CEO Anthony Tan at a recent GrabX event in Singapore, where the company unveiled its latest product innovations.
According to Mr. Tan, AI is transformational for Grab’s partners, customers, and drivers, enabling the company to scale tenfold with the same resources.
“As Southeast Asians increasingly turn to digital solutions for their daily requirements, we aim to enhance Grab’s relevance in their everyday lives. Our new range of products is designed to achieve this, promoting growth and deepening our connections with the communities we serve,” he explained.
One of the new features highlighted at the event is “Grab for Family | Teens,” which provides a safe and reliable way for teenagers aged 13 to 17 to travel independently. This feature will be available across its markets starting in May.
With their teen accounts linked to existing Grab for Family accounts, teenagers will have the ability to book rides independently or have parents arrange rides for them.
This solution includes enhanced safety features, such as the upcoming “Always-on AudioProtect” capability, which will utilize GenAI to monitor for potential dangers in real-time, enabling Grab to intervene promptly if necessary.
“We utilize LLM to analyze real-time audio and emotional cues, such as cries for help, allowing AI to innovate responses to individual situations and enabling immediate intervention, not just basic safety through tracking the vehicle’s license plate,” added Mr. Tan.
Philipp Kandal, Grab’s chief of product, noted that these product launches aim to expand the opportunities for users to utilize Grab’s services throughout the day.
These products and technologies represent growth strategies intended to enhance user engagement with Grab’s ecosystem and attract new users, according to Mr. Kandal.
The “Grab for Family | Teens” feature is expected to help the company connect with younger audiences.
Additionally, Grab introduced “GrabFood for One,” which is now active in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. This service offers affordable meals for solo diners with no minimum order requirement and a low, fixed delivery fee.
Mr. Kandal further mentioned that Grab is also employing agentic AI solutions to assist merchant and driver partners. The AI Merchant Assistant and AI Driver Companion were developed in collaboration with AI research organizations OpenAI and Anthropic, utilizing their latest foundational models.
The AI Merchant Assistant is a chatbot powered by LLMs within the GrabMerchant app, providing merchants with customized insights and business suggestions such as sales improvement strategies, ad campaign creation, and menu updates. It will soon offer tailored financing solutions, including loan products, to individual merchants.
The AI Driver Companion includes two new AI-powered solutions integrated into the Grab Driver app, designed to enhance driver efficiency and productivity.
