SINGAPORE – If you have booked a car on ride-hailing app Ryde, there is a slim chance that the company’s chief executive himself might have been in the driver’s seat.

Terence Zou has clocked over 700 rides since he founded the company in 2014, and he has had his fair share of interesting experiences with passengers.

He recalls being scolded by one because he could not find the correct drop-off point, as it was marked ambiguously on the map.

There have also been pleasant surprises. He reconnected with a former student who had helped him on a project when he was a lecturer at the National University of Singapore’s Business School about a decade earlier.

“You get to meet different people and see different aspects of life as a driver, and these are the experiences that make the driving experience a human one, more so than driving a car by yourself,” Zou told The Straits Times.

More importantly, being a driver on the platform gives him a better idea of how the app is working and benefiting its users.

The ‘human element’ of driving

For Zou, while Ryde is a technological product, the human element delivers customer service and remains integral to the customer experience.

“You can build relationships and pass leads, or even find out simple things like a good place to eat, just by having a conversation. That’s the human touch in day-to-day life, and that’s what makes the whole experience more real.”

While self-driving vehicles will be part of the future, Zou believes they will not be the only means of transportation available. Human drivers will still be here to stay.

This is something that an entirely automated ride-hailing service would...