How to innovate like Amazon

Date: 22.10.2022

Lars Schmitz

Customers often ask how they can innovate „like Amazon”. From its humble beginnings as a startup in a garage, Amazon has not only innovated across e-commerce, but also introduced new, diverse businesses beyond e-commerce. Over the years, Amazon has improved its ability to take on hard problems and find innovative ways to solve them. AWS is one such example. We have taken something as central and specialized as operating a data center, and pushed it to the edge as a utility. When technology becomes a utility, it becomes ubiquitous, allowing more people to participate in innovation. This talk discusses how Amazon approaches innovation with its mechanisms, architecture, culture, and organization. We will particularly look at Working Backwards, the Amazon innovation methodology that helps work backwards from the customer needs to develop successful ideas.