Amazon Retail CEO Doug Herrington Amazon
At an all-hands meeting, Amazon retail chief Doug Herrington stressed the importance of staying ahead in AI.
Herrington hosts an “AI Show and Tell†to stay up to date on AI and enterprise projects.
He warned that many companies have failed to adapt to major technological changes.
This is a machine translation of an article from our US colleagues at Business Insider. It was automatically translated and checked by a real editor.
Amazon’s retail boss Doug Herrington hosted an “AI Show and Tell” in his office last year. Artificial intelligence and the company’s associated projects were discussed.
Herrington believes that the current AI boom is more important than any other major technological change of the past, such as mobile or social technologies. He warned employees that Amazon must stay ahead of change if it wants to remain successful.
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AI forces Amazon to adapt to new technology
He made the comments during an internal all-hands meeting last week, a recording of which was obtained by Business Insider. Herrington talked about some of the new projects his team is working on. At the same time, he sounded the alarm about the importance of AI.
“I would say it is important to remember that there are many large, successful companies throughout history that have faced major technological changes,†Herrington said during the event. “They failed to adapt and then disappeared.â€
The massive boom in artificial intelligence is being led by the sudden rise of Chat GPT. It has led many companies, including Amazon, to more actively pursue the new technology. Internally, Amazon designs new AI projects. Some of these ideas include a new AI-powered shopping agent and a major overhaul of the Alexa voice assistant.
Meanwhile, some employees complained about the rushed launch of Amazon’s new chatbot Q and the growing pressure they feel trying to incorporate AI into everything they do.
Amazon’s spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
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âKI Show and Tellâ
During last week’s event, Herrington said the AI demonstration in his office has been happening every few weeks for the past year. It started as a personal “learning and curiosity mechanism”. He invited every retail team to come over and show what they were working on.
Now there is a long list of people waiting to present their projects. Herrington oversees Amazon’s entire retail business, including its online marketplace, healthcare division and logistics services.
Some of the most recent projects he’s seen include a new feature that can automatically create product images for sellers. Another project is a new healthcare-trained model that could support clinicians. There’s also a new AI model that can help warehouse robots look into a bucket full of products and pick out the right one. Another model that can help Amazon quickly identify bad actors in its marketplace, he reports.
Amazon wants to work with AI in every area
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy shared a similar message during the all-hands meeting. He said that “virtually every customer experience” will be reinvented by generative AI. Jassy emphasized that “every single part” of Amazon is working on generative AI applications. These new applications include a feature that aggregates customer reviews on Amazon and a new image creator for advertisers.
Herrington added that the AI transformation currently taking place is “truly remarkable” and “much bigger” than any other major transition he has seen in technology to date. He mentions large companies that failed to adapt to these changes and ultimately exited the market. Still, Herrington says he’s confident Amazon will play a leading role in AI.
“It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that this is not Amazon’s story,” Herrington said. “The good news is that I am very confident that with our foresight and our culture of innovation, we will not only manage this transition, but also be a leader in it.“
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