Why Amazon CTO Werner Vogels isn’t ready to retire just yet

AmazonCTOWernerVogelshasbeeninhisjobfor16years,butthe63-year-oldisn’tquitereadytoretire.“Thereissomuchmoretodo.I’mnotfinishedyet,”hetoldmeduringaninterviewatthecompany’sannualre:InventconferenceinLasVegaslastweek.“We’rehavinganabsoluteballwithallthethingsthatwe’redoing.[…]It’sadreamjob.”HenotedhowthepercentageofITspendthatgoestothecloudisstillminimal,“andthenfromatechnologyside—ohman—there’ssomuchmoreinthepipeline,soI’mnotgoinganywhere.”

Withre:Invent,Amazonplacedasubstantialbetonthereturntoin-personconferences.Typically,theshow’smorethan60,000attendeestakeovertheLasVegasStripforaweek.Thisyear,therewereabout27,000attendees,whichwouldstillmakeitoneofthelargesttechconferencesinanypre-COVIDyear,too.

TheconferencewasalsothefirstAWSeventwithAdamSelipskyatthehelmoftheorganization,withitslong-timeAWSCEOAndyJassynowinJeffBezos’CEOroleontheretailsideofAmazon.SelipskydidnotusetheeventtoannounceanymajorchangesinAWS’strategy,assomehadhoped.Andmaybethat’snosurprise.AccordingtoVogels,therehaven’tbeenanymajorchangesunderthenewleadershipyet.

“IknewAdam,ofcourse,foralongtimeovertheyears.HejoinedusinthesecondyearofAWS,maybethefirstyear,andthenwentoff,ofcourse,todoTableau—andnowhe’sback.Sothat’sgood.But,ofcourse,heintimatelyknowsthebusiness,”Vogelssaid,andalsonotedthatSelipskyandJassyhadlongworkedcloselytogetherbeforeSelipskytooktheCEOpositionatTableau.“It’sjustcontinuation,justbusinessasusual.Ofcourse,theworldaroundusischangingandIthinkthere’slotsofsensitivitiesthathedefinitelyhastodealwith—andthesamegoesforAWS.Imean,thisisnotabusinessthatissortofridingoffintothesunsetandrestingonlaurelsandjustdonothing.Thatisabusinessthatcontinuestoinnovateandisalsoinnovatingitself.”

ImageCredits:AWS

Duringhiskeynote,VogelsnotedhowAWSnowhashundredsofdifferentservices.Jokingly,heblamedthecompany’scustomersforthat,whokeepaskingformore.Butthat’salsobecomingarealproblem,asitgetsharderandharderforbusinessestodecidewhichservicetouse.AWS,Vogelsnoted,believesinbuildingprimitives,notframeworks.“Butalso,Ithinkwehavethechance—andwe’veseenthisinthepastyears—tobuildmoresolutions,tobuildmorepackaged thingsforourcustomers.Thereisacertainverylargebuilder’ssideofAWSthatstilllikesthetweakingandputtingthingstogetherandthingslikethat,butthere’salsoasignificantportionofourcustomersthatjustwantadatalake,”hesaid.AndsomeofthosearetheinternalcustomersatAWSthattaketheseprimitiveslikeAWSGlue,thecompany’smanagedserverlessdataintegrationservice,tobuildothersolutions(andthefeedbackcyclefromtheseinternalteams,ofcourse,isveryfast).

Almostbydefault,foreveryservice,there’salonglistofnewfeaturesthatuserswant—andthenthere’sthedevelopmentteam’sroadmap.Often,Vogelsnoted,AWSchangesthatroadmapbasedonhowcustomersareusingaservice.WithDynamoDB,AWS’sNoSQLkey-valuedatabase,theteamknewcustomerswouldwantsecondaryindices.“Butwedecidedtolaunchwithout,mostlytounderstandexactlyhowcustomerswouldstarttousethesedatabases.Itwasalreadyonourroadmap,butcustomersactuallywantedcell-androw-levelsecuritymuchmorethansecondaryindices,soyouallowyourcustomerstochangeyourroadmapandIthinkthat’sjustahealthierapproach,”explainedVogels.

Anotherkindofcustomer,Vogelsexplained,islarge,traditionalenterprisesthatarestilltryingtofigureoutnotjustthetechnologicalpartofmovingtothecloudbutalsoeverythingelsearoundthat.Howdoyoubuildtheorganizationalstructurearoundthat.That’swhereAWS’spartnernetworkcomesin,butmoreandmore,theyarealsoaskingAWSforhelpwiththeseculturalchangesdirectly.

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LISBON,PORTUGAL–7November2019;WernerVogels,CTO,Amazon,onMoneyConfStageduringthefinaldayofWebSummit2019attheAlticeArenainLisbon,Portugal.(PhotoByHarryMurphy/SportsfileforWebSummitviaGettyImages)

Fiveyearsago,themaindriversformigratingtothecloudwereaboutdeveloperproductivityandmovingbeyondowninghardware.“Thesedays,thenumberone[reason]issecurity,”Vogelsnoted.“Manyorganizations—anddefinitelythelargerenterprises—starttorealizetheycannotprotectthemselves.Theycannotmakethesekindsofinvestments,butAWScanmakethemforthem.Andassuch,itbecomesamajordriverfortransitioninginthecloud.”

That’squiteadifferencefromonlyafewyearsago,whenenterprisesstillworriedquiteabitaboutsecurityinthecloudandoftensawitasapotentialhurdletomigrating.VogelsbelievesthatwasmostlyFUD.“Well,youknow,thereisjustthisthingcalledFUD—fear,uncertaintyanddoubt—amarketingapproachputintotheworldbyyourcompetitorswhoprefertoactuallyspreadliesandintroducefearanduncertaintyinthestoryinsteadofworkingonbuildingbetterproducts.Ithinkaverysignificantportionofthis isthatallstandardITcompanieswere,‘reallyyou’regoingtobuyserversfromabookshop?Howcrazycanyoube?Well,itturnsouteverybodywantsserversfromabookshop.Peopledidn’trealizethatAmazonhadbeenatechnologycompanyfromdayone.”

ImageCredits:AWS

Vogelshimself,hesaid,hadaveryprimitiveviewofAWSbeforehejoinedthecompany.Whenthecompanyfirstinvitedhimtogiveatalkwhilehewasstillanacademic,hewasn’tquitesurewhattomakeofAmazon.Andindeed,henotedthathiringengineerswasactuallyoneofthebiggestchallengesintheearlydaysoftheservice.“Oneglimpseatthekitchen,however,andIrealizedthatanythingthatwasinthedistributedsystemstextbookwashappeningatAmazon—butatscale,andatascalethatIhadneverseenbefore.”

Forsecurityinthecloud,peoplehadthesamemisunderstandingsintheearlydays.Andwhilethere’sthegenuinekindofmisunderstandingthatVogelshimselfhadaboutthescaleofAmazon,henotedthatthere’sasecondkind,too.“Thereisthemischievousmisunderstandingofyourcompetitors,”hesaid.“Irememberoneofourcompetitorswhoisnowareallygoodpartner,inthosedays,theyactuallyhadsalesmeetingsandtheysaid,‘whowouldeverwanttobuyserversfromAmazon?It’sridiculous.Don’tworryaboutit.’Thingsaredifferentnow.”

WhySabreisbettingagainstmulti-cloud

WhenyoutalktolargeenterpriseCIOs,CTOsandotherdecision-makers,theyoftentalkaboutwantingtobemulti-cloudinordertogetthebestofwhatthevarioushypercloudshavetooffer.Allofthemajorcloudvendors,includingAWS,nowofferonekindofserviceoranothertoenablethis,usingtheirtechnologytorunandmanagecontainersandservicesontheircompetitors’clouds.Inreality,I’mnotseeingalotofcompaniesactuallydoingthis,though,andmoreandmore,Ihearcompaniessaythatthisjustlocksthemintothelowestcommondenominator.That’ssomethingVogelsalsoechoed.

“IfIwouldbeaCIOofalargeenterprise,Iwouldindeedtellmypeople:‘go,takealookatallofthem.’ThecustomersItalk to,iftheyarereallyinterestedinmulti-cloud,startlookingatwhatare theuniquecapabilitiesofaparticularcloudthatyoumaywanttouse. Don’ttellyourdeveloperstotransparentlyworkoverthreeorfourmoreclouds. Why?Becausetheygotothelowestcommondenominator.Thatmeansthatyou’regoingtousecloudsasadatacenter,whichmeansyoulosealltheadvantagesthatyouget.”

Hearguedthatcustomers,justliketheywouldwhenevaluatinganyotherservice,wanttohaveanexitstrategy.Inpractice,thatmaymeangoingwithasinglecloudprovider,butarchitectingasystemthatwouldmakeiteasiertomovetoanothercloudifthateverbecomesnecessary.

Foralotofcompanies,migratingtothecloudstillmeansliftingandshiftingtheirexistingservices.Increasingly,though,italsomeanstheycanstarttolookatnewdevelopmentpatterns.Duringhiskeynote,Vogelsputaspecialemphasisonusingserverlesspatterns,andindeed,hethinksthatitshouldbesomethingofthedefaultgoingforward.“Ifyou’rebuildingfromscratch,thenyes,”hesaidwhenIaskedhimaboutthis.Buthealsonotedthatthereare,inessence,threedifferentcomputeplatformstoday:instances,containersandserverless.YourSAPsystem,you’lllikelymovetoaspecializedinstanceonEC2.YourhomegrowntoolsthatyoucandecomposeintosmallerblockswouldmakeagoodcandidateforcontainersandKubernetes.Andthen,forcompletelynewservices,serverlesswouldbeagoodcandidate.

“Interestingenough,Ialwaysthoughtwhenwelaunched[AWS’serverlessplatform]Lambda,Ithoughtthattheyoungentrepreneurs,thedigitalguyswillbehung-hooverit. Itturnsout,thebiggestusersofLambdabecameenterprises,”Vogelnotedandarguedthatthisislikelybecauseserverlessgivesthemmorecontrolovertheircost.

Healsonotedthatthereisasustainabilityargumenttobemadeforserverless,whichdoesn’tconsumeanyresourceswhileaserviceisidle.AWSmadesustainabilitythesixthpillarofitswell-architectedframeworklastweek,asVogelsannouncedduringhiskeynote.AWSbelievesinasharedresponsibilitymodelforcloudsustainability,withthecompanyplanningtorunitsoperationson100%renewableenergyby2025.Butatthesametime,it’salsouptotheuserstofigureouthowtomostefficientlyusethecloud,too.

ImageCredits:AWS

“Itrytomotivatemycustomerstostartthinkingaboutwhattheycoulddoandnotonlythinkabouttechnology,butwhatifyouhave,maybeawebsitethat’sjustalittlebitlessrich?Maybeyourimagesarenotfivemegabytesbutmaybejust500K.Allthesekindsofthings.So,becomeawareofthekindsofthingsthatyouaredoinginyourapplicationdesign,oryourwebsitedesign,thatactuallymayjustuselessresources,”hesaid.Inaway,that’sagainsthowengineersaretrainedtothink,butVogelsarguesthat’sit’saquestionofwhatyouoptimizefor.Maybeabitofextralatencyreducesconversionrates,butitdoeshelpyoumeetyoursustainabilitygoals.

“Twoorthreeyearsdowntheroad,we’llseemanymoredevelopmentpracticeshappeningaroundthatand,ofcourse,toolstomeasure,becauseyouneedtoknowwhatyouaredoing,”hesaid.“Buthealsonotedthatit’llbeuptothecustomerstodecidewhattheywanttooptimizefor:“I’mnotgoingtotellmycustomers whattheyshouldbedoing,becauseIbelievethatthereshouldbenogatekeepers.Peopleshouldbeabletoinnovateinanywaythattheywouldwantto,buttheyneedtobecomeconscioustothemselves.”

Lookingahead,oneofthosetechnologiesthatkeepsVogelsenergizedisquantumcomputing.Earlierthisyear,AWSannouncedthatitwouldstartbuildingitsownquantumhardware,withabetonsuperconductingqubits.Asofnow,thecompanyispartneringwithanumberofmajorquantumplayers,includingIonQ,RigettiandD-Wave,inmakingtheirhardwareandservicesavailablethroughitsBraketservice.Butclearly,justlikeGoogleandMicrosoft,AWSbelievesinbuildingitsownquantumhardware,too,justlikeitdoesforclassicalchips.

“Ithinkit’soneofthoseareaswherehardwareandsoftwareareworkinglockstepwitheachother.Improvementsinhardwarebegetimprovementsinsoftware,softwareimprovementsdrivethehardwaretodifferentimprovements.Ithink,forexample,thesoftwaretoolsinandaroundquantumare nowherenearthesoftwaretoolswehaveforclassicalcomputation,butforthat,weneedtostartbuildingapplications.Andso,withAmazonBraketourcustomerscanstartinvestigating.Whatkindofalgorithms[doyouuse]?Howdoyoudosoftwaredevelopmentforthat?Howdoyoutrackthat?Howdoyoudooperationsaroundthat.Allthesekindsofthings.Thereissomuchmoretofigureouttherethatwillhaveanimpactonthehardwareaswell.I’mreallylookingforwardtoseeingwherewearethreeyearsfromnow.”

Andsochancesare,barringanothergloballockdown,we’llseeVogelstakethestageonthelastdayofre:Invent2024andtalkaboutAWS’latestimprovementstoitsquantumcomputerandhowthedevelopersintheaudiencecanmakethebestpossibleuseofthat.