Mexico is one of our most vital markets. We’re active in more than 60 cities and one of the top 3 superapps in the country – so of course, we’re super excited about the World Cup and all the buzz that attends it. Of course, with millions of people expected to visit over this period, there are plenty of challenges in ensuring that people can get around safely and easily. 

So, here’s how we’re helping our users make the most of this once-in-a-lifetime experience visiting a truly amazing country:

  1. Smooth pass: using AI for smoother pickups

High-density locations (i.e. wherever a lot of people come together – big match, anyone?) often suffer from GPS drift and chaotic layouts. This can make pickups a little fraught. So, we’ve been running an ambitious mapping campaign across Mexico’s busiest places: shopping malls, transit hubs, stadiums and fan zones, and rather than placing meeting points manually, we use geo analysis and telemetry algorithms to study where drivers actually stop. Then we generate optimized pickup points, making the process smoother. This campaign has already generated over 639,000 unique pickup points across Mexico — and ahead of the tournament, we've added 129 more specifically around World Cup venues and fan zones. 

  1. What’s the score: when will my driver actually arrive? 

When a passenger requests a ride, the map shows an ETA (the driver sees the same number on the bidding screen before deciding whether to accept the trip). Traditionally these ETAs were calculated based on ideal conditions – but how often do you get those? In the real world, drivers must contend with last-minute route changes, shifting traffic, and delays at pickup and drop-off points. 

Enter Iris, our deep learning model: Iris learns from hundreds of millions of past inDrive trips in each city, recognizing patterns and using them to correct ETAs before they are shown. Result: the accuracy of Haaland. Globally, Iris has increased the share of accurate ETAs (within 60 seconds of actual arrival) by up to 13%. 

  1. Celebrate: Helping our visitors paint the town red

There’s more to life than football, right? Well, perhaps that’s a personal call. But for many fans who've travelled to support their team, it’s also about experiencing Mexico – and as we know first hand, this is a country that is well worth exploring. So, we’ve introduced a new feature, providing curated recommendations from local experts to help visitors catch some of the top attractions. (And for those who live only for football, where to find fan zones and other football-related fun – and great food, because even the most fervent fans need to eat!)

  1. No foul play: safety always

Ok. so this isn’t just for the World Cup - safety is always our number one priority. That’s why we use AI to verify our users’ likeness, check against an offenders database, verify drivers’ documents, and monitor for suspicious behaviour. AI handles 96% of our routine moderation — so that people can handle complex cases where human judgement matters most. This approach helped us achieve 99.8% accuracy and reduce the time it takes to screen and analyse an incident from 12 minutes to 10 seconds. We want our users to feel confident every time they get in the car together. No red cards – just a great match.