AWS CEO Matt Garman thought Amazon needed a million developers — until AI changed his mind

Core Insights - AWS CEO Matt Garman highlighted a significant shift in the company's operational constraints, moving from a shortage of software development engineers to a focus on generating great ideas due to advancements in AI [2][4]. Group 1: Company Strategy and Operations - Garman noted that the demand for software engineers is still present, but the ability to deliver projects has improved significantly, allowing smaller teams to accomplish what once required larger groups [4]. - Bedrock, Amazon's managed service for AI models, has become a multi-billion dollar business, indicating the growing importance of AI within AWS [6][7]. - AWS employs a multi-layered product strategy, with core building blocks at the base, followed by databases and analytics, and finally applications where AWS selectively builds [8]. Group 2: Competitive Positioning - Garman candidly stated that Amazon struggles with being a fast follower in the market, emphasizing the company's preference for solving customer problems from first principles rather than merely copying competitors [10].