What I Learned in One Year at AWS

The peculiar culture I came to love and how it powers innovation

I wonder sometimes where the time goes. It was the third week of May and I was heads down on arranging some startup talks, when someone casually said on a call, “Congrats on your anniversary!”

I was confused. What anniversary? Did he mean me? Then it dawned on me, he was referring to my Amazonian anniversary. The day before had marked one year when I started at AWS!

I never expected that I would work in a massive company again. I loved the startup life. One year later though, I find myself even more convinced of the decision I made to come on board.

The biggest question I had going into Amazon was about the culture. The word “peculiar” kept coming up in searches and conversations. It seemed that quite a few people never made it a year before bolting for the doors. The adherence to “Leadership Principles” seemed cult like for those that stayed.

With a year under my belt though, I can safely say I have navigated through the vast jungle that is AWS successfully. I can without a doubt state that I made the right decision coming to AWS, even despite the challenges of a role that had to change dramatically due to the pandemic.