Thought Leadership
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy foresees an “agentic future” in which generative AI will replace human workers in offices.
Jassy expects his company to significantly reduce its office workforce in the coming years. In a memo to employees published on Tuesday (via CBS) , the CEO announced that he would increasingly rely on generative AI tools and autonomous agents.
“As we introduce more generative AI and agents, the nature of our work will fundamentally change,” Jassy explained in the letter. “We will need fewer people for certain jobs that are still performed today and more people for other types of jobs.”
Efficiency gains through the use of AI
The Amazon CEO predicts that the increased use of AI will “reduce our overall office workforce as we gain efficiencies through the extensive use of AI across the company”.
Massive investments in AI technology
Amazon is investing “very heavily” in generative AI technology, Jassy continued. “The progress we are making is obvious.” Many of the planned agents have not yet been developed, “but they are coming, and they are coming fast”.
The company had already ventured into AI technology in 2014 with the Amazon Echo and the Alexa voice assistant. In February, the company announced Alexa+ – a new version of the AI-controlled voice assistant that is designed to be “more conversational, intelligent and personalized”.
AI features permeate the e-commerce platform
AI functions now permeate Amazon’s e-commerce websites: Tools such as “Buy for Me” allow customers to instruct a shopping assistant to make a purchase. “Recommended Size” predicts clothing sizes based on previous purchases. According to Jassy, tens of millions of customers are already using Amazon’s AI shopping assistant.
The CEO outlined a future in which AI agents take over monotonous tasks and free up human employees for more creative roles. “Agents allow us to start from a more advanced starting point in almost everything,” Jassy explained. “We can focus less on routine work and more on thinking strategically about how we can improve customer experiences and invent new ones.”
Criticism from software developers
Not all employees are positive about the AI shift. Software engineers at the company described to the New York Times an intensified working environment in which they are being pushed to use AI to increase productivity and achieve higher performance targets. This makes their jobs “more routine, less thoughtful and, above all, much faster”.
Amazon currently has a total of 1,000 generative AI services and applications in development or already in use – only a “small fraction” of what the company ultimately plans, according to Jassy.
