Las Vegas — Grab, a Southeast Asian super app known for its diverse offerings, has strengthened its partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) by selecting it as its preferred cloud provider. Grab said the collaboration is aligned with its commitment to innovation, cost efficiency, and customer-centric solutions.
“Grab has always been a tech-first company,” Mohan Krishnan, head of Engineering at Grab, said during a media briefing. “Our focus is on using innovation to solve problems for our users and partners. This requires experimenting with and iterating on new products without worrying about infrastructure.”
He emphasized that AWS enables Grab to manage costs, ensure stability, and integrate AI solutions effectively.
Krishnan also emphasized three key areas where AWS has been instrumental. First, AWS helps optimize costs, allowing Grab to innovate while maintaining financial efficiency. He noted that AWS technologies like Graviton (AWS’ custom-built processor) enable Grab to run operations more efficiently, aligning with its goal of achieving profitability.
Second, AWS ensures service stability for Grab’s 42 million monthly users and 13 million driver and delivery partners.
“Our users rely on us for their livelihoods. AWS’s robust data capabilities allow us to innovate without compromising service reliability,” Krishnan explained.
Finally, the partnership supports Grab’s adoption of artificial intelligence (AI). AWS’s AI and machine learning tools have allowed Grab to develop AI-first features, enhancing user experiences and operational efficiency.
“AI is a transformational technology, and AWS has helped us accelerate its integration into our services,” he added.
Long-standing partnership
“Grab’s diverse businesses — from mobility and delivery to financial services — have grown on our infrastructure,” said Ganesh Chawla, director for AWS Asean. “Services like EKS (Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service) enable Grab to handle fluctuating demands seamlessly across countries,” he said.
AWS also reduces Grab’s operational overhead, allowing the company to focus on delivering innovative products rather than managing infrastructure. For example, Grab’s machine learning platform, Catwalk, runs on EKS and supports over 1,000 AI models in production. The company is also using AWS’ custom-designed AWS Inferentia chips with specialized ML inferentia capabilities for its AI-powered services.
“This platform powers features like route optimization and pricing, which are crucial for Grab’s market leadership,” Chawla said.
The partnership, which began in 2012, also aligns with Grab’s mission to drive economic empowerment. Krishnan shared that Grab leverages AWS to offer affordable services and create differentiated products.