Commuting, Technology, and Growth: How Zeelo Is Building Transportation Infrastructure for Tomorrow’s Workforce

​Click Here to Download this Transformational Growth Leadership Interview with Sam Ryan, CEO & Co-Founder of Zeelo.

In this discussion, Geraldine Priya A, Growth Expert and Research Manager, Shared Mobility at Frost & Sullivan speaks with Sam Ryan, CEO & Co-founder of Zeelo, about the shifting dynamics of commuter transportation and the growing role of technology in workforce mobility. The conversation explores how hybrid work, declining public transit ridership, and the rise of transportation-as-a-benefit are reshaping how employers and schools approach commuter solutions.

The way people get to work has changed faster than the infrastructure meant to support them. Public transit systems are struggling to adapt, and employers are rethinking workforce mobility. Against this backdrop, Zeelo is building a new category; the one that treats transportation not as a cost center but as a measurable, strategic benefit.

Three Mega Trends That Are Re-writing Commuter Transportation

Geraldine Priya A: What three transformative mega trends are disrupting the shared mobility industry?

Sam Ryan: Firstly, urban decline, more non-urban frontline jobs, and hybrid work have reshaped travel patterns. Public transit ridership is still down, and most systems don’t have the funding or flexibility to adapt. That’s pushing more people back into cars just to get to work or school.

Secondly, transportation-as-a-benefit is on the rise. Employers are now providing transport either because it’s mission-critical for frontline workers or to support return-to-office efforts. Trust between employers and employees is at a low point, so companies are looking for practical ways to show they’re serious.

Thirdly, and it’s worth saying this mainly in 2026, the bus industry still hasn’t fully embraced data and technology the way other transport modes have. It’s still running on legacy systems or offline processes in many cases. You can track your pizza in real time, but not always your child getting on the school bus. This gap is a real growth opportunity.

Opportunity Focus: Building a New Category from the Ground Up

Geraldine Priya A: How are these mega trends creating new opportunities for Zeelo?

Sam Ryan: As an all-in-one provider of shuttle transportation for employers and schools, there’s plenty of opportunity ahead. But creating a new category is hard; it requires challenging established ways of doing things and educating the industry to buy differently.

Companies need solutions that make commuter transportation affordable, measurable, and easy. We guide customers from seeing transport as a necessary but expensive line item to treating it as a strategic investment with a clear return.

Scaling Core Areas and Expansion Goals

Geraldine Priya A: What are your big aspirational growth goals for the company? Where do you see Zeelo in the next five years?

Sam Ryan: Our focus over the next few years is scaling our core fully-managed shuttle offering. We’re the clear industry leader in the UK and Ireland, serving hundreds of world-leading companies and schools. Now we need to accelerate ahead in the US too.

Beyond that, we’re exploring product add-ons, new geographies, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) opportunities, building on the success of our acquisition of UK player Kura in 2024.

The Path to Industry Transformation

Geraldine Priya A: What do you see as the biggest roadblock to achieving growth?

Sam Ryan: The greatest challenge we face is bridging the widespread awareness gap in transportation. Our product demonstrates a clear return-on-investment and is incredibly sticky once adopted. We already have the product needed, however, as with anything new, there’s an adoption curve to navigate, and we aren’t yet at the tipping point.

Click Here to Download this Transformational Growth Leadership Interview with Sam Ryan, CEO & Co-Founder of Zeelo.

Competitive Differentiation: Disrupting Industry Inertia with Innovation

Geraldine Priya A: Who are your biggest competitors and what is your strategy to stay ahead of the competition?

Sam Ryan: Our competition comes in three forms — fleet operators (who are also our partners in many cases), direct competitors, and customers who simply choose to do nothing. Each situation is different, and we know how to guide customers through that decision-making process.

• We’ve leveraged 10 years of experience to build a unique 5-step workflow, powered by proprietary technology and automation, but with a focus on ensuring human attention is where it really matters.
• It’s not just about the physical operations or the technology; it’s about how you bring them together to deliver industry-best outcomes.
• Staying ahead means never getting comfortable. We leverage data to keep improving, and we’ve built a culture that challenges convention at every level.

The AI Advantage: Automating Efficiency Without Losing the Human Touch

Geraldine Priya A: How are you leveraging AI at Zeelo? Do you consider AI a savior or a curse?

Sam Ryan: It’s a clear enabler. For years, investors pressured us to pivot to being a pure Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider. We’ve consistently told them it’s not what this market needs. The ability to combine technology with service expertise to deliver real-world outcomes is what sets us apart.

We’ve spent 10 years collecting data and building a workflow that covers everything from planning to operator compliance, booking, support, and optimization. AI is now automating the routine parts of that workflow so our transportation experts can focus where it really matters.

Building Technology Readiness

Geraldine Priya A: What is your approach to innovation? What excites you most about the future, and keeps you up at night?

Sam Ryan: I’m optimistic about how AI, automation, and autonomous vehicles can grow this domain by enabling companies like us to deliver a return on investment (ROI)-positive service to a much larger set of customers. I’m also optimistic that many of the big challenges we face, like transportation access, congestion, climate impact, have simpler solutions. Even without zero-emission or autonomous vehicles, sharing rides can have a huge impact.

What concerns me is our tendency to overestimate how quickly new technology creates real-world change. We should invest in autonomous vehicles (AVs), AI, and electric vehicles (EVs), but not at the expense of capturing the opportunities available to us right now.

The Big Message

Geraldine Priya A: Finally, what is the one big message you want to give to the world?

Sam Ryan: Transportation is physical by nature and mission-critical for everyday people reaching work, schools and colleges. Technology and data are essential, but you can’t truly solve transport challenges by only sitting behind a desk. Real impact comes from harmonizing the digital world and the local reality.