Four ways Andy Jassy can make his mark as Amazon CEO

As Jeff Bezos steps down as the head of the online behemoth and hands the reigns to cloud boss Jassy, we look at the challenges he faces in making the role his own

Will Andy Jassy be a Tim Cook or a Steve Ballmer?

That is the question on the lips of many as they speculate as to what direction Jeff Bezos' anointed successor will take Amazon. Like Cook and Ballmer, Jassy finds himself in the unenviable position of making his mark on a company that has become indelibly linked to its founder and outgoing CEO.

No doubt Jassy will be taking notes on those historical transitions and what came next for their respective companies: Cook took over as head of Apple just before Steve Jobs died and has presided over its gargantuan growth to a $2tn company, while the best thing that can be said about Bill Gates' successor Ballmer is that his time as Microsoft CEO paved the way for current incumbent Satya Nadella.

Jassy himself has become synonymous with Amazon Web Services (AWS), the internet giant's cloud arm, which he has been with since its inception in 2006 and has headed since 2016, and which has become the biggest contributor to Amazon's operating income.

CRN considers four ways in which Jassy can make his own mark in the nearly thirty-year-old company.

Keeping his voice

Jeff Bezos is somewhat of an enigma. He doesn't give many interviews, he rarely personally comments on the vast amounts of criticism levelled at him and rarely vocally antagonises Amazon's peers.

Andy Jassy is not an enigma. He is well-known for being vocally critical of companies slow to move to the cloud and for taking public jabs at AWS' competitors, particularly Oracle. Will he continue to be so vocal in his statements and criticisms or will he adopt Bezos' quieter public stance?

"Jassy is a very genuine person; I've found him to be open, honest and very respectful in the way he communicates and the tone he uses. I expect he will continue to be vocal, open and genuine in his role as Amazon CEO as well," said Ed Anderson, VP analyst at Gartner.

"Clearly the challenges and responsibilities are of a different scope than what he's managed at AWS. But I expect we'll see the same tenor and tone from him that we've seen in his current role."

Anderson added that Jassy has been with Amazon for 24 of its 27-year existence. He is firmly embedded in the company culture created by Bezos, which makes him a "great" pick for the role.

"Another thing worth noting about Andy Jassy is that, although he has been part of the Amazon executive team, he has effectively run AWS pretty autonomously and has grown that business into a $50bn technology business," Anderson continued.

"So he certainly has the skills and capabilities to run a very large -scale enterprise, in addition to everything he's done to help with Amazon."

Shining a light on AWS

When Nadella took over from Ballmer at Microsoft, he made sure that his Azure project would be fundamental to Microsoft's future, a decision which has paid off in dividends. Will Jassy's promotion to the Amazon throne see a brighter light shone on AWS?

In a memo to his colleagues at the cloud arm about the news of his promotion (first tweeted by New York Times journalist Kara Swisher), Jassy indicated that his interest in AWS' progress would not be dimmed by his new role overseeing the entire Amazon organisation.

"With the meat of enterprise and public sector adoption starting to happen now, we have the chance to build a very unusual, long-term business," he wrote.

"One of the amazing things about AWS and Amazon is that we're still such a small overall share of the market segments in which we address. It's still very early days.

"Nothing is changing in the short term as it relates to AWS. You'll be stuck with me until Q3; and even after that, I will always be passionate and connected to AWS."

Jassy's successor at AWS has yet to be named, but Gartner analyst Anderson speculated it could likely be someone from the AWS executive board as Amazon likes to promote from within. Whoever his successor is, it sounds like Jassy will be keeping close tabs on them as they gain responsibility for Jassy's baby.

"Andy will take with him his wealth of experience; he is very passionate about the AWS business and that is now, of course, elevated to the CEO role," said analyst Anderson.

"That is not to say that Jeff Bezos wasn't passionate or invested in AWS, but Andy certainly brings that new focus and perspective that Jeff did not have with AWS. I think it elevates the stature of AWS within Amazon."

Understanding the power of tech

Amazon is regarded as being one of the biggest tech stories, born as an online bookseller in Bezos' garage in 1994, weathering the Dotcom boom-to-bust and growing exponentially over the last 20 years across e-tail and cloud.

Jassy has been at the forefront of this diversification and his leadership at AWS means he has an innate understanding of the power of technology, according to Gartner analyst Anderson. This understanding will likely shape the direction that Amazon will take under his stewardship.

"Andy has, for the past decade, plus, been immersed in the technology arena and, as such, he has seen the power of technology to transform organisations and to transform industries," Anderson mused.

"He comes into this role with this deep technical acumen and, more importantly, the role that technology plays in really disrupting industries.

"That's largely been the formula of Amazon in the past, but Andy brings that new depth of technology as well. I expect there will be a lot of continuous innovation and a lot of focus on technology as a differentiator - both in the business and in the operations."

Facing Amazon's challenges

Amazon has been a leader across its numerous portfolios for years now, particularly as a cloud provider. So what challenges could possibly facing Jassy when he takes the wheel?

One is reputational. Many countries in which it has a base argue that it is not paying enough tax, while it has been accused of holding a monopoly and anti-competitive practices in its native US.

"Amazon is in an interesting place right now in its growth," Anderson stated.

"It's also in the midst of ongoing scrutiny about the size of Amazon, its competitive practices and its worker issues, amongst other things. So there are certainly some big challenges that Andy will face but there are also opportunities about how to shape and mould Amazon into the future."

The transition itself and stepping out of Bezos' shadow will be his most pressing task, as well as figuring out what his strategy will be to continue the organisation's exponential growth, the analyst said.

"Jeff Bezos has been this incredibly visionary leader and taking that role and establishing his own vision for where that organisation moves forward [will be a challenge]," he elaborated.

I think the challenges and opportunities that Andy has to think about are ‘What do we do next with Amazon? Where do we take it? Where are the next growth opportunities?'

"Certainly, this has been an amazing year for Amazon, but where do they go next strategically as Amazon continues to become larger? I think there are some big, meaty challenges for Andy as he takes on this new role."