Resolve a cross-functional conflict blocking Ads

Problem Statement Description

Product context: Uber is a mobility and delivery platform; its products include rides, Uber Eats, grocery and retail delivery, freight, driver and courier tools, and marketplace pricing.

You are the PM responsible for an Uber Ads initiative that depends on multiple teams to launch across the driver experience. The initiative is blocked by a cross-functional conflict: Ads wants to move forward to unlock revenue and advertiser commitments, while Driver Experience, Marketplace, Safety, Legal/Policy, and Regional Operations have concerns about driver distraction, trust, earnings impact, local compliance, and operational readiness.

The setting is Uber’s global mobility, delivery, and logistics marketplace, where any change to the driver app can affect marketplace liquidity, trip reliability, safety perception, and driver satisfaction. The conflict is not simply about persuading one team; it requires creating an execution path that aligns incentives, clarifies ownership, resolves decision rights, and protects the core marketplace while enabling the Ads business to learn and scale.

Your task is to describe how you would unblock the initiative and drive it to a clear decision or launch path. Focus on the operating plan: how you diagnose the conflict, structure the discussion, define success and risk thresholds, sequence work, manage dependencies, and communicate decisions across executives and local teams.

The experience should consider:

- The specific stakeholders involved across Ads, Driver Experience, Marketplace, Safety, Legal/Policy, Engineering, Data Science, Sales, and Regional Operations

- The core points of disagreement, such as ad placement, driver distraction, earnings impact, advertiser commitments, launch timing, compliance, and marketplace quality

- How you would establish decision ownership, escalation paths, and a shared set of launch criteria

- The metrics and guardrails needed before, during, and after launch, including driver engagement, opt-outs or complaints, safety signals, trip acceptance, supply hours, revenue, and advertiser outcomes

- The sequencing of work across experiment design, market selection, engineering readiness, operational playbooks, sales commitments, and support training

- Go/no-go criteria, rollback plans, and how you would handle partial launch, delayed launch, or scoped-down launch options

- Communication mechanisms for keeping executives, regional teams, and frontline support aligned during the conflict and launch process

The goal is to show how you would lead through ambiguity and disagreement in a high-stakes marketplace environment, balancing Ads growth with driver trust, safety, reliability, and Uber’s broader marketplace health.