In the world of professional football, few coaching relationships are as legendary as that of Bill Parcells and his protégé, Bill Belichick. Parcells built formidable defenses, but it was Belichick who took the New England Patriots to unprecedented heights, largely thanks to an unknown player who would become a football icon: Tom Brady.

This story of mentorship, evolution and seizing the moment finds a parallel in the tech world as Matt Garman steps into the role of chief executive at Amazon Web Services Inc., following in the footsteps of Andy Jassy, the man who built AWS into the giant it is today. The industry now watches closely: Will Garman, who was announced as the new AWS CEO in May, be the Belichick to Jassy’s Parcells? And could generative artificial intelligence be AWS’ “Tom Brady moment” — a game-changing innovation that propels the company into a new era of balanced and explosive growth?

As the torchbearer of the cloud computing revolution, AWS has long stood as the titan of infrastructure, enabling businesses of all sizes to innovate at an unprecedented scale and speed. But with the rise of generative AI, the stakes have never been higher or the landscape more competitive. In a SiliconANGLE exclusive interview, Garman opened up about his vision for the company’s next decade, the challenges of maintaining leadership in a rapidly shifting market, and how AWS plans to empower the next generation of innovators.

The evolution of AWS’ role in a generative AI world

Much like Belichick, who was the mastermind behind the Patriots’ defense, Garman has been a key architect of AWS’ infrastructure, particularly its EC2 computing service. Now, as the new CEO, Garman is tasked with leading AWS into the future — a future dominated by generative AI. Under Jassy’s leadership, AWS set the standard for cloud computing. Garman’s challenge is to evolve that legacy in a rapidly shifting tech landscape.

“Generative AI presents an enormous opportunity,” Garman says, his voice carrying the confidence of a new CEO who understands the magnitude of the task ahead. “Our job at AWS is to help customers and companies take advantage of this incredible technology. It’s about providing a secure, reliable and performant platform that allows them to innovate in ways they’ve never imagined.”

But Garman’s vision for AWS goes beyond just maintaining the company’s existing strengths. Like Belichick, who recognized the potential in Tom Brady and reshaped the Patriots’ offense around him, Garman sees generative AI as the transformative force that could redefine AWS’ trajectory. “The landscape is only getting more complicated, and it’s changing rapidly,” he says. “We have to make sure that we innovate while continuing to provide the bedrock of what makes AWS indispensable.”

Strategic leadership in a competitive landscape

Garman’s ascent to the CEO role comes at a time when AWS faces increasing competition from rivals like Microsoft and Google. Taking over from a leader such as Jassy, who built AWS into the behemoth it is today, is no small feat. Yet Garman is well-prepared. Much like Belichick, who was known for his meticulous game planning and ability to adapt, Garman is prepared to navigate this competitive landscape with a strategic focus on innovation and customer obsession.

“We never obsess about our competitors; we obsess about our customers,” Garman asserts, embodying the same single-minded focus that has defined AWS, and Amazon, from the beginning.

Over the past two years, the narrative has been that AWS is perceived as being behind in generative AI, especially after Microsoft Corp.’s partnership with OpenAI. Garman’s response brings to mind the famous “on to Cincinnati” moment from Belichick. Following one of the worst defeats in his tenure with the Patriots, Belichick’s postgame press conference set the tone for the rest of the season and their eventual Super Bowl run.

Similarly, Garman’s “focused on our customers” narrative echoes this sentiment, indicating that AWS is not dwelling on the past but is instead fixated on the future. This is the philosophy at the core of AWS’ strategy under his leadership. As the market moves into a new era defined by AI and advanced cloud computing, Garman is hyperfocused on helping customers navigate these changes and harness the power of the AWS cloud to drive their own innovations.

Yet, as Belichick’s Patriots demonstrated, a great defense alone isn’t enough to build a dynasty. It took the emergence of Tom Brady, an unheralded quarterback who would become the most prolific offensive weapon in NFL history, to transform the team. Similarly, though AWS’ infrastructure remains unparalleled, generative AI could be the transformative technology that not only complements the company’s existing strengths but also propels it into new realms of innovation and growth.

Insight into the inference revolution: AWS’ next big bet

In what may be a glimpse of AWS’ next major strategic move, Garman emphasizes the critical importance of inference — the process of applying learned knowledge to generate insights or perform tasks — as the true “killer app” of generative AI.

“All the money and effort that people are spending on building these large training models don’t make sense if there isn’t a huge amount of inference on the backend to build interesting things,” Garman notes. He sees inference not just as a function but as an integral building block that will be embedded in every application.

AWS’ investments in custom silicon, including Trainium and Inferentia chips, deliver high-performance, cost-effective inference capabilities at scale, enabling AWS customers to deploy sophisticated AI models with greater efficiency and ultimately transform how industries leverage AI to drive growth and innovation. “Inference is where the real value of AI is realized,” Garman adds, signaling that AWS is not just participating in the AI revolution but is engineering the very infrastructure that will define its future.

Generative AI: the potential ‘Tom Brady moment’

Generative AI is more than just a technological advancement. It represents a paradigm shift in how businesses operate, innovate and compete. Under Garman’s leadership, AWS is positioning itself to be at the forefront of this transformation. By enabling companies to harness the power of AI to automate tasks, generate new insights and create entirely new business models, generative AI has the potential to be AWS’ Tom Brady moment — the catalyst that elevates the company from a defensive powerhouse to an offensive juggernaut.

“Generative AI presents an enormous opportunity to transform almost every industry,” Garman says. AWS’ investment in AI tools such as SageMaker and Bedrock, added to its custom silicon solutions such as Trainium and Inferentia, positions the company to lead the next wave of innovation. These technologies not only empower developers but also enable enterprises to build scalable, AI-driven applications that can redefine their industries.

Just as Brady’s rise unlocked new dimensions for the Patriots, generative AI could unlock new dimensions for AWS, enabling it to maintain its dominance while expanding into new areas of growth. This breakthrough could balance AWS’ already formidable “defense” in infrastructure and platform with an equally powerful “offense” driven by generative AI capabilities, ushering in an era of large-scale intelligent AI applications and creating a more versatile and dynamic force in the tech industry.

Empowering the next generation of innovators

Garman’s connection to AWS’ roots is evident in his deep respect and focus on the developer community. He sees developers and startups as the engine that has driven its growth since the beginning. His first act as CEO was to immerse himself in the world of startups, visiting Silicon Valley and entrepreneurs around the world to gather insights directly from the source.

“I view developers and startups as the lifeblood of AWS,” Garman says. His commitment to empowering these innovators is reflected in AWS’s continued investment in tools and services that remove barriers to innovation, especially in AI. SageMaker, Bedrock and other services are designed to help developers move faster, innovate more and spend less time on the mundane aspects of coding and deployment.

According to Garman, AWS is not just a cloud provider — it’s an enabler of innovation at all levels, from the smallest startups to the largest enterprises. By democratizing access to high-performance computing and AI, AWS is opening doors for a new generation of entrepreneurs to build scalable, impactful applications.

Yet, much like Belichick, Garman knows that while the tools and infrastructure are crucial, the true breakthrough often comes from an unexpected source — a Tom Brady-like innovation that could change the game entirely. In this context, generative AI is that moment.

The infrastructure revolution: custom silicon and systems thinking

While Garman is focused on empowering the next generation of developers, he’s also keenly aware that the future of computing hinges on the infrastructure that supports it. AWS has been investing heavily in custom silicon, with its Trainium and Inferentia chips leading the charge in AI processing.

“Building AI infrastructure is hard,” Garman admits, “but it’s also incredibly rewarding. Our custom silicon, like Trainium and Inferentia, is designed to deliver material benefits in price and performance for our customers. We’ve seen some incredible results, and the potential for future innovations is enormous.”

But AWS’ commitment to innovation doesn’t stop at silicon. Garman points to the company’s broader systems approach as a key differentiator. “We’ve always believed in betting on open, scalable technologies,” he says. “Our investment in ethernet networking, for example, has allowed us to outperform traditional InfiniBand networks in terms of scalability and reliability. It’s these kinds of investments that ensure AWS remains the best place to build the next generation of AI-driven applications.”

The culture of innovation and urgency

One of Garman’s most distinctive leadership traits is his sense of urgency. He’s focused on speed. He highlights that in the fast-paced world of technology, speed is crucial. “Every day matters in the speed at which technology is changing,” Garman emphasizes. His message to the AWS team is clear: Innovate quickly, focus on what’s important, and push forward relentlessly.

This urgency is balanced by a deep commitment to the core values that have always defined AWS. Garman is adamant that even as the company embraces new technologies like generative AI, it must continue to excel in the foundational services that have made it a trusted partner for businesses around the world. “We must keep innovating on all fronts,” he insists, “because our customers depend on us to provide the best possible tools for their success.”

When asked about his leadership style, Garman mentions that it’s one of empowerment. He sees his role not as a top-down commander but as a facilitator, enabling AWS’ talented team to do what they do best. “My job is to let them invent,” he says. By fostering a culture of innovation and customer obsession, Garman ensures that AWS will remain at the forefront of the cloud industry.

However, just as Belichick needed Brady to realize the Patriots’ full potential, Garman will need to identify and cultivate the next big thing for AWS — a breakthrough that could propel the company beyond its current trajectory and into new heights of success. Generative AI, with its transformative potential, could very well be that catalyst.

The next chapter for AWS

As AWS enters its next chapter under Garman’s leadership, the company faces both significant challenges and new opportunities. The rise of generative AI and other advanced technologies presents a massive growth opportunity, but it also requires AWS to stay ahead of the curve in an increasingly crowded and competitive market.

Garman is confident that AWS is up to the task. He points to the company’s long track record of operational excellence, security and innovation as key differentiators that will continue to set it apart from the competition. “There is absolutely one cloud, which is AWS, that gives you the best security, the best operational performance and the best set of features,” Garman insists.

For businesses contemplating a generational reset of their infrastructure, Garman’s advice is straightforward: Move to the cloud, and do it with AWS. “You’re not going to get the benefits of the technology path going forward by staying in a traditional data center,” he warns. “AWS offers not just the best technology, but a partnership that is focused on helping customers succeed.”

Yet, the question lingers: Will generative AI be AWS’s Tom Brady moment? Will this breakthrough technology not only complement the company’s existing strengths but also transform it into an even more formidable force in the industry?

A leader for the future

As the new CEO of AWS, Garman is more than just a successor to Andy Jassy. He appears to be equipped to guide the company through its next era. His technical prowess, strategic vision and commitment to customer success have prepared him to lead AWS into a future where cloud computing is not just an infrastructure solution, but the foundation for the next wave of global innovation.

As businesses around the world look to the cloud to fuel their next phase of growth, AWS, under Garman’s leadership, appears ready to lead the way. The only question that remains is whether Garman will find his Tom Brady — a transformative force that will not only secure AWS’ defensive dominance but also propel the company into new realms of offensive innovation and growth.

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Here’s the full exclusive interview with Garman:

Photo: Amazon