Tomaso Rodriguez — Leading Talabat Beyond Food Delivery

Tomaso Rodriguez inherited a challenge: build a delivery platform in one of the fastest-moving, most diverse markets on earth, and make it feel human, local, and scalable all at once.

Early Life & Curiosity

Tomaso grew up in Italy, a place where food isn't just eaten – it's shared, debated, celebrated. "Where the love for food and community is almost a birthright," he said to me during Web Summit Qatar 2025, but his curiosity stretched past the kitchen table.

He wanted to comprehend movement:

How people order, how products travel and how technology could remove everyday friction.

He wasn't born into tech. He built his career piece by piece, country by country. Before joining Talabat, Tomaso spent years at Uber, eventually leading Uber Eats in multiple markets. That experience shaped him — not just as an operator focused on scale, but as a listener. A problem-solver. Someone who sees the humans behind the data.

The Mission at Talabat

When Tomaso arrived at Talabat, he didn't see “a food delivery company.”

He foresaw the possibility of a regional digital ecosystem which would be able to support restaurants, riders, customers, and suppliers all in one area.

Every order is a story to him:

A restaurant owner trying to keep their business alive,

A rider trying to earn and support family,

A busy customer, like the rest of us, wanting to save time.

That became Talabat's advantage. Under his guidance, the company didn't just deliver meals; instead, it built one of the most sophisticated logistics systems in the Middle East, powered by automation, data, and AI.

Today, Talabat operates in nine countries, stitching together a network that moves thousands of orders with speed, consistency, and intelligent routing.

Business Mindset

Tomaso is not a dashboard CEO. He's the kind of character who wants to hear from the rider, the chef, the merchant.

That hands-on curiosity shaped Talabat's style:

Scalable systems, customer-first thinking, data-driven decisions, constant experimentation.

He believes big companies have to think like startups — fast, flexible, willing to rebuild their playbooks from scratch. As he put it:

"Every market is a different language. You can't just translate your strategy—you have to rebuild it from the ground up."

Beyond Profit; For Tomaso, leadership is not just numbers, but beyond that it starts with the foundations.

Talabat now:

Empowers small restaurants to go digital, supports local food ecosystems, creates flexible earning opportunities for riders, pushes sustainability and ethical operations

For many, Talabat is a delivery giant. To Tomaso, it's a tech company that connects people, drives opportunity, and moves cities forward.

The Future of the Industry

Tomaso believes

"the food delivery space is only in its first chapter."

What most people see today — apps, riders, restaurant menus — will soon evolve into something much smarter. He talks about a future where delivery platforms don’t just respond to orders, but predict them. Where AI can anticipate demand, reduce food waste, and help restaurants operate with precision, not guesswork.

He sees delivery becoming part of a greater ecosystem: payments, groceries, dark stores, cloud kitchens, logistics, commerce, and sustainability. Not separate industries, he says, but one connected network.

While many companies are after speed, Tomaso chases sustainability: fairer systems for the riders, more efficiency for the restaurants, and smarter infrastructure for the cities. As he sees it, over the next decade, the winners won't be the fastest companies, but the most responsible ones.

Conclusion

Tomaso Rodriguez' journey was not a straight line. It was a series of experiments, risks, and reinventions — from Italy to Dubai, from Uber to Talabat, and from food to full-scale digital commerce.

He serves as a reminder that great leadership in tech isn’t solely about software or capital. It's about clarity, empathy, and consistency.

When technology meets purpose, it doesn't just deliver food — it delivers progress.