Komsan Chiyadis
GrabFood delivery-partner, Thailand
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[Watch]: Product Head of Geo Maps shares how Grab developed its own mapping solutions
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May 3, 2024
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Regional
In the episode 2 of Grab a Seat, host Ankit Vengurlekar talks to Sriram Iyer, Grab’s Head of Product, Geo & Fulfilment, about how Grab developed its own mapping solutions. As Southeast Asia’s go-to superapp for ride-hailing and food delivery, Grab had to make sure it was working with accurate location data to make their operations efficient and keep users happy.
(Watch: Grab a Seat Ep 1: The origins of Grab’s superapp vision)
Southeast Asia is typically not a market prioritised by global mapping players. Incumbent map providers have also struggled to map some of the region’s more challenging terrain, such as small alleys that four-wheeled vehicles can’t pass through.
“That was the inflection point where we decided, ‘Okay, we got to own this problem end-to-end.’ And when we build our own maps, we’ve got to be strategic and long-term about it, and see how this serves not just this pain point right now, but helps us evolve our business over time,” Sriram said.
Leveraging AI, data, and emerging tech
Traditional mapping is typically very expensive. One of the reasons Grab has been able to build maps in a cost-efficient way is because it has automated a lot of its processes using AI, machine learning and data science.
For instance, Grab developed its own map-making cameras to collect imagery.
“We figured the existing cameras on the market didn’t fit our needs, so we built our own map-making cameras. And these map-making cameras are AI-enabled. They have a pretty hefty processor on the edge that does some pre-processing,” Sriram explained.
(Read more: KartaCam 2: Grab’s next-generation map-making camera)
“Vision AI is one of the fundamentals on which maps are built. So we extract stop signs, turn restrictions, the lanes on the road, a blockage, or a new store that has opened up on the side of the road,” he added.
On the emergence of generative AI and large language models, Sriram said that these technologies present massive opportunities in reinventing the future of mapping.
The Grab a Seat podcast is available to listeners on 30 streaming platforms including Apple, Spotify and YouTube.
New episodes launch on a weekly basis.
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Komsan Chiyadis
GrabFood delivery-partner, Thailand
COVID-19 has dealt an unprecedented blow to the tourism industry, affecting the livelihoods of millions of workers. One of them was Komsan, an assistant chef in a luxury hotel based in the Srinakarin area.
As the number of tourists at the hotel plunged, he decided to sign up as a GrabFood delivery-partner to earn an alternative income. Soon after, the hotel ceased operations.
Komsan has viewed this change through an optimistic lens, calling it the perfect opportunity for him to embark on a fresh journey after his previous job. Aside from GrabFood deliveries, he now also picks up GrabExpress jobs. It can get tiring, having to shuttle between different locations, but Komsan finds it exciting. And mostly, he’s glad to get his income back on track.
