回顧安迪?賈西在亞馬遜的云計(jì)算貿(mào)易展上發(fā)表的主題演講,基本上都是以沉悶的企業(yè)軟件促銷(xiāo)作為開(kāi)場(chǎng)。
但去年12月,在從拉斯維加斯的會(huì)議大廳轉(zhuǎn)移到虛擬平臺(tái)舉辦的活動(dòng)上,作為亞馬遜云科技的負(fù)責(zé)人,安迪?賈西的表現(xiàn)與以往不同:他談到了社會(huì)問(wèn)題。他首先承認(rèn)了新冠疫情造成的悲劇,然后他談?wù)摿巳谌吮缓κ录?。這些事件在美國(guó)引發(fā)了史無(wú)前例的抗議活動(dòng)。
他說(shuō):“事實(shí)上,幾百年以來(lái),美國(guó)對(duì)待黑人的方式都是可恥的,必須做出改變?!?/p>
賈西在7月5日接替杰夫?貝佐斯擔(dān)任亞馬遜公司的首席執(zhí)行官。他將秉持這家企業(yè)的經(jīng)營(yíng)理念:客戶至上,行動(dòng)迅速,保持節(jié)儉。他與曾經(jīng)的上司貝佐斯一樣爭(zhēng)強(qiáng)好勝,并且不相信傳統(tǒng)觀念。
但53歲的賈西并不是貝佐斯的翻版。
他擅長(zhǎng)通過(guò)提問(wèn)來(lái)切入問(wèn)題的核心,擁有令人生畏的洞察能力。另外,他平易近人,與同事相處融洽。與一心專(zhuān)注于事業(yè)的貝佐斯不同,賈西一直關(guān)注外面的世界,他曾經(jīng)直言自己支持“黑人的命也是命”運(yùn)動(dòng)。
貝佐斯不會(huì)徹底消失。他將繼續(xù)擔(dān)任亞馬遜的執(zhí)行董事長(zhǎng),并計(jì)劃參與亞馬遜的新項(xiàng)目。在完成公司權(quán)力交接幾周之后,他就決定參加其火箭公司的亞軌道太空航行,這意味著貝佐斯不會(huì)一直對(duì)賈西的工作指手畫(huà)腳。貝佐斯始終相信他的副手能夠管理好亞馬遜。
賈西需要延續(xù)亞馬遜支持發(fā)明創(chuàng)新的策略,包括云計(jì)算、智能音箱、支持當(dāng)天發(fā)貨的高度自動(dòng)化倉(cāng)庫(kù)等。他將帶領(lǐng)亞馬遜應(yīng)對(duì)世界各地監(jiān)管部門(mén)的調(diào)查。各國(guó)目前都在調(diào)查美國(guó)的科技公司是否擁有太大的影響力。
此外,他還要負(fù)責(zé)兌現(xiàn)貝佐斯最近做出的改善員工待遇的承諾。在貝佐斯做出這番承諾之前,亞馬遜的倉(cāng)庫(kù)部門(mén)經(jīng)歷了長(zhǎng)達(dá)一年的混亂,其西雅圖總部也偶爾會(huì)曝出問(wèn)題。在賈西上任的幾天前,亞馬遜更新了領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力原則,敦促管理者要富有同情心,在決策時(shí)要考慮到員工和社會(huì)福利。
目前尚不確定賈西作為新任首席執(zhí)行官會(huì)推出哪些不同的舉措。他將支持亞馬遜對(duì)發(fā)明創(chuàng)新和勇于冒險(xiǎn)的偏好,除此之外,他尚未公開(kāi)談?wù)撨^(guò)自己要優(yōu)先實(shí)施的公司策略。亞馬遜拒絕了本文對(duì)賈西的采訪要求。
根據(jù)他的現(xiàn)任和前任同事、合作伙伴與競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手的采訪顯示,他會(huì)像貝佐斯一樣全力以赴抓住新機(jī)會(huì)。
1997年將賈西招入亞馬遜的珍妮弗?卡斯特說(shuō):“他至少會(huì)像杰夫一樣有雄心和膽量?!?/p>
鐵桿樂(lè)迷
賈西出生于紐約富人區(qū)斯卡斯代爾,在三個(gè)孩子中排行第二。他的父親是曼哈頓一家知名律師事務(wù)所的老板,母親是家庭主婦。一家人吃飯時(shí)的聊天內(nèi)容經(jīng)常會(huì)演變成關(guān)于球隊(duì)、老師或者最?lèi)?ài)的親人的爭(zhēng)論。
在2018年的一次畢業(yè)演講中,賈西說(shuō):“你在講故事的時(shí)候,總是會(huì)被細(xì)節(jié)或者你做的決定的有關(guān)問(wèn)題所打斷。”他很可能會(huì)描述在氣氛緊張的會(huì)議中,坐在他對(duì)面的亞馬遜員工們的感受。
賈西年輕的時(shí)候是一名出色的網(wǎng)球運(yùn)動(dòng)員,踢過(guò)足球,還想過(guò)當(dāng)飛行員。除了學(xué)習(xí)以外,他不愛(ài)讀書(shū)。
他在斯卡斯代爾校區(qū)后援俱樂(lè)部中的一次演講中稱:“對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)上學(xué)就像是一種游戲?!彼兄x一位出色的美國(guó)歷史老師讓他愿意拿出更多的精力來(lái)完成家庭作業(yè)。
他后來(lái)被父親的母校哈佛大學(xué)錄取,并取得了政府管理專(zhuān)業(yè)的學(xué)位。之后他搬到了紐約,成為一名體育節(jié)目廣播員。但在ABC Sports和??怂沟墓ぷ髁钏械骄趩?,他不愿意用多年的工作來(lái)等待一次出鏡的機(jī)會(huì)。
他在亞馬遜也會(huì)經(jīng)常表現(xiàn)出這種急性子。后來(lái),賈西去了一家收藏品公司,還曾經(jīng)參與創(chuàng)建過(guò)一家初創(chuàng)公司,可惜這家公司沒(méi)有維持多久。之后,他重新回到哈佛商學(xué)院就讀。
當(dāng)時(shí)他的未婚妻是埃拉娜?卡普蘭,從小在加州南部長(zhǎng)大。賈西說(shuō),如果未婚妻同意幾年后搬回紐約,商學(xué)院畢業(yè)后就前往西部發(fā)展。當(dāng)時(shí)賈西希望去舊金山稅務(wù)軟件公司Intuit,不過(guò)時(shí)任亞馬遜市場(chǎng)總監(jiān)的卡斯特在商學(xué)院就業(yè)指導(dǎo)辦公室里的一堆簡(jiǎn)歷中發(fā)現(xiàn)了他。
1997年5月的一個(gè)周五,賈西參加期末考試。之后的周一他便加入了西雅圖的亞馬遜。再過(guò)了一周,亞馬遜上市。
賈西加入了規(guī)模很小的市場(chǎng)部,很快就被安排研究公司應(yīng)該賣(mài)哪些書(shū)。當(dāng)兩名商學(xué)院同學(xué)研究視頻和打包軟件時(shí),賈西寫(xiě)了亞馬遜進(jìn)駐音樂(lè)行業(yè)的計(jì)劃。
賈西是狂熱歌迷,愛(ài)好吉他重?fù)u滾、東海岸即興樂(lè)隊(duì)和創(chuàng)作歌手,所以成為亞馬遜CD業(yè)務(wù)的第一位負(fù)責(zé)人。后來(lái)他回憶說(shuō),壓力太大,還考慮過(guò)辭職。
回到市場(chǎng)部門(mén)工作一年左右之后,他加入了音樂(lè)團(tuán)隊(duì),協(xié)助領(lǐng)導(dǎo)由工商管理碩士、軟件工程師、前記者和DJ組成的雜牌軍。
團(tuán)隊(duì)在西雅圖市中心一座昏暗的磚房樓上辦公,經(jīng)常熬到深夜,伴著一樓俱樂(lè)部的重低音工作。等到第二天一早亞馬遜員工返回時(shí),酒吧里散發(fā)的污濁煙草味仍然彌漫在空氣中。有時(shí)晚上賈西會(huì)趁著團(tuán)隊(duì)成員在工位上吃晚飯時(shí)播放CD。
設(shè)計(jì)師彼得?希爾根多夫自20世紀(jì)90年代后期以來(lái)為亞馬遜工作過(guò)三段時(shí)間。有一次他正在加拿大溫哥華附近滑雪,早上6點(diǎn)左右,他接到賈西的電話,當(dāng)時(shí)亞馬遜正在考慮收購(gòu)網(wǎng)上點(diǎn)對(duì)點(diǎn)音樂(lè)共享服務(wù)Napster。
“賈西對(duì)我說(shuō):‘你可以在幾個(gè)小時(shí)內(nèi)到我的辦公室來(lái)一趟嗎?’我回答道:‘我在加拿大?!f(shuō):‘那你能夠在中午之前趕到這里嗎?’”
貝佐斯認(rèn)為,亞馬遜人應(yīng)該長(zhǎng)期、努力、聰明地工作。賈西從一開(kāi)始就體現(xiàn)了這些特質(zhì),并且要求周?chē)娜艘策@樣做。
音樂(lè)團(tuán)隊(duì)的一些成員通宵達(dá)旦地構(gòu)想著如果公司收購(gòu)了這個(gè)頗具開(kāi)創(chuàng)性但命運(yùn)多舛的文件共享服務(wù),亞馬遜數(shù)字音樂(lè)業(yè)務(wù)可能會(huì)變成什么樣子。亞馬遜對(duì)這件事情提出了不同的看法。
希爾根多夫說(shuō):“你可能只是去做一些創(chuàng)新性的項(xiàng)目,但他永遠(yuǎn)在不停地創(chuàng)新?!眮嗰R遜可以把業(yè)務(wù)拓展到音樂(lè)會(huì)門(mén)票領(lǐng)域嗎?能夠開(kāi)辦一家唱片公司嗎?“我們的下一個(gè)創(chuàng)新是什么?它的速度必須快,而且必須是有意義的。”
對(duì)亞馬遜的許多年輕核心員工來(lái)說(shuō),工作和個(gè)人生活是交織在一起的。
1998年,戴夫?沙佩爾被賈西招聘進(jìn)公司幫助組建亞馬遜的音樂(lè)團(tuán)隊(duì),當(dāng)時(shí)他搭了安迪和埃拉娜?賈西的順風(fēng)車(chē),他們要去西雅圖以東兩小時(shí)車(chē)程的一個(gè)傳奇性戶外圓形劇場(chǎng)聽(tīng)大衛(wèi)?馬修斯樂(lè)隊(duì)的音樂(lè)會(huì)。
沙佩爾說(shuō):“我在星期二搭上順風(fēng)車(chē),星期五晚上他帶我去了大峽谷。實(shí)際上他之前根本不認(rèn)識(shí)我?!?/p>
互聯(lián)網(wǎng)泡沫破滅后不久,貝佐斯要求賈西成為他的“跟班”——這是一個(gè)類(lèi)似于辦公室主任的臨時(shí)職位,只授予最有前途的管理人員。
在大約一年半的時(shí)間里,賈西每天都跟著貝佐斯,開(kāi)會(huì)時(shí)和他坐在一起,或者充當(dāng)貝佐斯的耳朵,旁聽(tīng)貝佐斯到場(chǎng)可能會(huì)使討論跑偏的會(huì)議。
貝佐斯對(duì)賈西喜愛(ài)有加,據(jù)亞馬遜的一位高管團(tuán)隊(duì)成員說(shuō),貝佐斯甚至在市場(chǎng)部的一輪裁員中力保賈西,稱他是“公司最有潛力的人之一”。貝佐斯對(duì)賈西擁有絕對(duì)的信任,有些高管為了避免與脾氣暴躁的首席執(zhí)行官發(fā)生沖突,偶爾會(huì)有言不發(fā),然而賈西卻對(duì)貝佐斯直言不諱。
“他是會(huì)告訴你真相的那個(gè)人?!痹?jīng)擔(dān)任貝佐斯技術(shù)顧問(wèn)的亞馬遜前高管伊恩?弗里德說(shuō)?!八麜?huì)以一種深思熟慮和尊重的方式說(shuō):‘杰夫,這是我在那次會(huì)議上看到的,這是我認(rèn)為我們應(yīng)該嘗試其它方式的原因?!?/p>
亞馬遜云科技的初創(chuàng)時(shí)期
大約在這時(shí),亞馬遜開(kāi)始重組其技術(shù)建設(shè)部門(mén)。因?yàn)樾掠?jì)劃陷入了困境,然而把問(wèn)題交給開(kāi)發(fā)人員解決,并不能夠加快進(jìn)展。
亞馬遜決定將人員繁復(fù)的技術(shù)團(tuán)隊(duì)拆分為專(zhuān)門(mén)提供單項(xiàng)服務(wù)或負(fù)責(zé)單個(gè)組件的工作小組。亞馬遜并不要求技術(shù)開(kāi)發(fā)人員在進(jìn)行新項(xiàng)目時(shí)相互協(xié)調(diào),取而代之的是讓其將他們的軟件設(shè)置完善以便其他人可以毫不費(fèi)力地使用它。
貝佐斯和他的左膀右臂很有先見(jiàn)之明,預(yù)見(jiàn)到了互聯(lián)網(wǎng)對(duì)零售業(yè)的顛覆性力量,他們認(rèn)為類(lèi)似的革命可能也會(huì)出現(xiàn)在計(jì)算領(lǐng)域。
2003年,賈西辭去了貝佐斯影子顧問(wèn)的工作,開(kāi)始構(gòu)思這樣的企業(yè)可能如何運(yùn)作并向董事會(huì)提議。于是,當(dāng)董事會(huì)批準(zhǔn)了他的建議,亞馬遜云科技搶在微軟或谷歌等高科技競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手發(fā)現(xiàn)機(jī)會(huì)之前上市。三年后,亞馬遜云科技推出了第一批主打產(chǎn)品。
最初,他們的最佳顧客是技術(shù)初創(chuàng)公司,這些公司還沒(méi)有致力于開(kāi)發(fā)大型計(jì)算機(jī)或后臺(tái)服務(wù)器。亞馬遜的“隨用隨付”模式消除了購(gòu)買(mǎi)一套新服務(wù)器帶來(lái)的高昂成本沖擊,為愛(ài)彼迎等新貴提供了一種只在需要時(shí)添加資源的最新技術(shù)。
科技巨頭們遲遲沒(méi)有意識(shí)到這一威脅,這讓賈西和西雅圖的其他高管感到困惑。
“我們吸引了競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手的注意。他們總有一天會(huì)來(lái)找我們?!眮嗰R遜云科技的一名前經(jīng)理說(shuō)?!八麄儞碛形覀儧](méi)有的內(nèi)在優(yōu)勢(shì)。所以我們總是多疑。為了保持領(lǐng)先,我們最好拼命跑,因?yàn)轭I(lǐng)先是我們唯一的優(yōu)勢(shì)?!?/p>
人們不知道亞馬遜云科技究竟領(lǐng)先世界多遠(yuǎn),因?yàn)橐恢钡?015年,貝佐斯和賈西都將亞馬遜云科技的銷(xiāo)售額隱藏在亞馬遜的財(cái)務(wù)業(yè)績(jī)中。此后,大公司紛紛放棄投資數(shù)據(jù)中心,轉(zhuǎn)而支持該公司的服務(wù)。
就像個(gè)人電腦全盛時(shí)期的微軟一樣,亞馬遜云科技也宣稱自己是新計(jì)算時(shí)代的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者。與微軟一樣,該公司也被指責(zé)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)不當(dāng)。無(wú)論是推出攻擊合作伙伴企業(yè)的產(chǎn)品,還是尋求將他人開(kāi)發(fā)的開(kāi)源項(xiàng)目商業(yè)化,都備受指責(zé)。
員工們表示,亞馬遜的觀點(diǎn)是,如果亞馬遜云科技的工程師認(rèn)為他們能夠解決客戶普遍遇到的問(wèn)題,他們就應(yīng)該這么做。
“亞馬遜將根據(jù)使用亞馬遜云科技并在店里購(gòu)物的客戶的需求構(gòu)建和開(kāi)發(fā)軟件?!痹摴镜囊幻l(fā)言人在電子郵件中表示。
根據(jù)Gartner公司的數(shù)據(jù),到2020年,亞馬遜占據(jù)了云計(jì)算基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施服務(wù)近41%的市場(chǎng)份額。云計(jì)算基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施服務(wù)是企業(yè)用來(lái)構(gòu)建軟件和運(yùn)行系統(tǒng)的基礎(chǔ)構(gòu)件。這是第二名微軟的兩倍多。
賈西在一年一度的“re:Invent客戶大會(huì)”上發(fā)表演講時(shí),通常會(huì)回顧這些數(shù)據(jù)。在過(guò)去的兩年里,這部分演示被錄制了下來(lái),這促使一些與會(huì)者懷疑這是否加重亞馬遜日益增長(zhǎng)的反壟斷壓力。
一名公司發(fā)言人稱,由于授權(quán)限制,亞馬遜在發(fā)布視頻之前刪除了這些數(shù)據(jù)。
賈西曾經(jīng)與貝佐斯和其他高管一起制定亞馬遜的指導(dǎo)原則,在建立亞馬遜云科技的寫(xiě)作和數(shù)據(jù)驅(qū)動(dòng)文化時(shí),他完全遵循了這些原則。員工會(huì)用簡(jiǎn)短的書(shū)面文字來(lái)表達(dá)想法。
在亞馬遜的工作生活中,員工每周都要與老板進(jìn)行運(yùn)營(yíng)和產(chǎn)品評(píng)估。賈西的問(wèn)題往往排在最后,他的質(zhì)問(wèn)往往會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)提案者或陳述者沒(méi)有充分考慮過(guò)的假設(shè)中的弱點(diǎn)。批評(píng)可能是尖銳的,但賈西并沒(méi)有把它當(dāng)成私人恩怨,無(wú)論是現(xiàn)在還是之前的同事都如此表示。
項(xiàng)目通常被分配給有很大自主性的小型團(tuán)隊(duì),而賈西喜歡推遲看似無(wú)法完成的最后期限。確實(shí),職業(yè)倦怠是常見(jiàn)的。
一個(gè)在亞馬遜云科技經(jīng)常被提及的問(wèn)題來(lái)自于賈西:怎樣才可以讓你正在開(kāi)發(fā)的產(chǎn)品規(guī)模擴(kuò)大10倍?
“這絕對(duì)是一場(chǎng)沖刺,而且是一場(chǎng)連續(xù)的沖刺?!眮嗰R遜云科技早期的產(chǎn)品經(jīng)理彼得?西羅塔說(shuō)。
為了團(tuán)結(jié)人心,賈西在開(kāi)會(huì)的時(shí)候,都會(huì)以感謝他的團(tuán)隊(duì)開(kāi)場(chǎng)和收尾,這在一家充滿雄心勃勃、爭(zhēng)強(qiáng)好勝的 A 型人格員工的公司中,是一個(gè)很不尋常的細(xì)節(jié)。
許多亞馬遜人都會(huì)回憶起這樣的故事:當(dāng)賈西試圖與他們建立私交時(shí),經(jīng)常利用他在體育、音樂(lè)和獨(dú)立電影方面如百科全書(shū)一般的知識(shí)儲(chǔ)備,來(lái)尋找共同話題。雖然貝佐斯在開(kāi)會(huì)的時(shí)候能夠?qū)谧琅缘南聦俦憩F(xiàn)得興趣寡然,但賈西更可能會(huì)與即將上去做展示的產(chǎn)品經(jīng)理閑聊幾句。
他喜歡可以挑起團(tuán)隊(duì)成員競(jìng)爭(zhēng)欲望的游戲——盡管這些游戲看起來(lái)有點(diǎn)傻。
在音樂(lè)團(tuán)隊(duì)工作期間,賈西曾經(jīng)在辦公室組織了一場(chǎng)名為“懸崖”的游戲,挑戰(zhàn)者共有三次機(jī)會(huì),將馬克筆扔到白板上并粘住。
“你會(huì)聽(tīng)到人們尖叫?!彼谝魳?lè)團(tuán)隊(duì)的主管卡斯特說(shuō)?!八膭儇?fù)欲非常、非常強(qiáng)烈?!?/p>
賈西一直是紐約幾支球隊(duì)的忠實(shí)粉絲,尤其是流浪者隊(duì)和巨人隊(duì),還擁有一點(diǎn)曲棍球聯(lián)盟中西雅圖海妖隊(duì)的官方股權(quán)。賈西的朋友和同事會(huì)一起到他的地下酒吧看比賽,他們有的還經(jīng)營(yíng)著籃球館和精彩的足球聯(lián)賽。
多年來(lái),他還一直贊助亞馬遜的“吃雞翅大賽”,該比賽現(xiàn)在成了亞馬遜云科技客戶大會(huì)上的保留節(jié)目。
他給了團(tuán)隊(duì)成員很大的自主權(quán),但在被任命接棒亞馬遜的首席執(zhí)行官之前,他仍然大量參與亞馬遜云科技的日常運(yùn)營(yíng)。他會(huì)親自編輯新聞稿和市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷(xiāo)材料,協(xié)助產(chǎn)品的命名工作,而且對(duì)定價(jià)頗有見(jiàn)地。他還會(huì)監(jiān)控推特上的動(dòng)態(tài)。
此外,他也會(huì)記錄有關(guān)服務(wù)中斷的電子郵件——每封郵件都標(biāo)志著一次不可原諒的失誤——并且偶爾也會(huì)進(jìn)入員工的收件箱,以確保他們已經(jīng)看到了問(wèn)題。他唯一能夠接受下屬給他的答復(fù)是“團(tuán)隊(duì)已經(jīng)在制定解決方案”。
一些員工稱,要得到賈西的點(diǎn)頭實(shí)在是太不容易了。團(tuán)隊(duì)需要花費(fèi)數(shù)周或數(shù)月的時(shí)間來(lái)討論問(wèn)題、編輯文檔,以便讓他們“準(zhǔn)備好接賈西的招”。
亞馬遜的一些員工擔(dān)心,如果他試圖繼續(xù)挪用這種方法來(lái)指揮整個(gè)公司,很可能會(huì)失靈。
三名與賈西密切合作過(guò)的人表示,在亞馬遜云科技對(duì)跳槽到對(duì)家的員工發(fā)起威脅和反競(jìng)業(yè)訴訟時(shí),他是幕后推手。亞馬遜則否認(rèn)了這一點(diǎn)。
最近因此官司纏身的是營(yíng)銷(xiāo)主管布賴恩?霍爾,他跳槽去了谷歌,相關(guān)案件也秘密地得到了解決。
“那讓安迪感到被背叛?!逼渲幸晃蝗耸吭谡劦较嚓P(guān)訴訟時(shí)指出?!八麜?huì)不惜一切代價(jià)來(lái)圍堵你。他不僅會(huì)密切關(guān)注留下的人,也同樣密切關(guān)注著那些離開(kāi)的人。”
隨著亞馬遜云科技的發(fā)展,賈西也開(kāi)始轉(zhuǎn)型,把他厚重的法蘭絨衣服換成了方格紐扣襯衫,通常也會(huì)搭配牛仔褲和運(yùn)動(dòng)鞋。
他還開(kāi)始減肥,每天在他自家的健身房里踩一個(gè)小時(shí)踏步機(jī),用鍛煉開(kāi)啟他的一天,一邊用后臺(tái)放著娛樂(lè)與體育節(jié)目電視網(wǎng)的節(jié)目,一邊查看前一天晚上帶回家的文件。他也不再喝健怡可樂(lè)他曾經(jīng)被看到從自己20世紀(jì)90年代的吉普切諾基車(chē)后隨手扔掉過(guò)健怡可樂(lè)罐),而是開(kāi)始喝瓶裝水。
近年來(lái),貝佐斯已經(jīng)成長(zhǎng)為穿著高級(jí)定制襯衫的精致角色,而現(xiàn)在,他正將掌印交給一位衣著略顯皺巴巴,甚至有些樸素的高管。
都市的根
無(wú)論是在亞馬遜公司內(nèi)部還是在公共場(chǎng)合講話時(shí),賈西都很謹(jǐn)言慎行,與貝佐斯一直在給客戶唱贊歌相呼應(yīng)。同事們都說(shuō),他有著幾乎過(guò)目不忘的記憶力,而且盡管他沒(méi)有接受過(guò)正式的工程師培訓(xùn),卻可以對(duì)數(shù)據(jù)和技術(shù)有關(guān)的話題侃侃而談。
在西雅圖蒸蒸日上的科技行業(yè),許多高管住在郊區(qū)的湖畔社區(qū)。但是,賈西一家卻選擇在市區(qū)扎根。
他們?cè)?009年購(gòu)買(mǎi)了一套面積1萬(wàn)平方英尺(約929.03平方米)的住宅,住宅里還有一個(gè)網(wǎng)球場(chǎng)和一個(gè)門(mén)廊,門(mén)廊的框架則是高聳的科林斯式石柱。住宅坐落在西雅圖市中心的一個(gè)社區(qū),步行就能夠到達(dá)一排酒吧和餐館——這些地方有時(shí)會(huì)變身深夜會(huì)議的場(chǎng)所。
賈西回復(fù)電子郵件相當(dāng)及時(shí),但他也勤于為家人留出時(shí)間,避免參加一些一直持續(xù)到晚上的會(huì)議,早上他還會(huì)抽出時(shí)間站立吃早餐,或和孩子們打一場(chǎng)網(wǎng)球比賽。他的兩個(gè)孩子,如今一個(gè)20歲,一個(gè)17歲。
在流浪現(xiàn)象成為西雅圖一個(gè)非常重要的公共問(wèn)題之后,亞馬遜的一個(gè)案例被指加劇了這一問(wèn)題,賈西和一名時(shí)任市議會(huì)成員一起評(píng)估了危機(jī)的范圍。
直到時(shí)任市議會(huì)成員莎莉?巴格肖注意到賈西的安保人員在一旁保持恭敬距離、緊緊跟隨著他時(shí),她才明白過(guò)來(lái)這位來(lái)自亞馬遜、自稱“安迪”的家伙是個(gè)大人物。
朋友和同事們說(shuō),盡管賈西在工作中刻意避免發(fā)表黨派政治評(píng)論,他們從賈西身上也沒(méi)有看到貝佐斯的自由意志主義傾向。埃拉娜?賈西近年來(lái)一直為民主黨候選人和委員會(huì)捐款。
或許,他給首席執(zhí)行官這個(gè)職位帶來(lái)的最大的、最直接的變化,是裝飾性的。貝佐斯是世界首富,他在美國(guó)各地?fù)碛泻廊A住宅,擁有一家火箭公司,還擁有《華盛頓郵報(bào)》,簡(jiǎn)直就像卡通片里的富豪。貝佐斯還是收入不平等抨擊者、反壟斷學(xué)者和工會(huì)的攻擊目標(biāo)。
據(jù)彭博億萬(wàn)富翁指數(shù)顯示,賈西本人相當(dāng)富有,身價(jià)約為5億美元。但在科技圈之外,他只是個(gè)默默無(wú)聞的小人物——這讓亞馬遜有機(jī)會(huì)把他推介給大眾。
在他的帶領(lǐng)之下,亞馬遜云科技從57名員工發(fā)展到數(shù)萬(wàn)名員工,年?duì)I收金額超過(guò)500億美元,而他與亞馬遜云科技的合作也已經(jīng)成為商學(xué)院案例研究的經(jīng)典主題。
貝佐斯是一個(gè)“一分鐘就能夠想出主意”的機(jī)器,他的“主意”催生了Alexa數(shù)字助理和去收銀員化的Amazon Go商店,而賈西更是出名的創(chuàng)造性思維的促進(jìn)者。
如果問(wèn)賈西從貝佐斯身上學(xué)到了什么,那就一定是要放眼長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)。亞馬遜正在面臨歐洲對(duì)其使用賣(mài)家數(shù)據(jù)的調(diào)查,美國(guó)擬議的立法將迫使亞馬遜將物流業(yè)務(wù)從其零售網(wǎng)站中剝離,哥倫比亞特區(qū)的一項(xiàng)反壟斷訴訟指控亞馬遜提高了消費(fèi)者價(jià)格——這些問(wèn)題或?qū)⑿枰獢?shù)年時(shí)間才可以解決,亞馬遜有充足的時(shí)間斟酌回應(yīng)。
到目前為止,亞馬遜似乎傾向于采取更激進(jìn)的姿態(tài),與批評(píng)它的國(guó)會(huì)議員展開(kāi)爭(zhēng)論,并動(dòng)員亞馬遜的公關(guān)部門(mén),將自己這個(gè)電子商務(wù)巨頭描繪成“小企業(yè)的伙伴”。
賈西將留下的東西,不僅在于繼續(xù)增加Prime的忠實(shí)會(huì)員,或是增加亞馬遜云科技在技術(shù)支出中的份額,還在于他將如何領(lǐng)導(dǎo)亞馬遜度過(guò)反壟斷糾紛和“文化清算”的時(shí)刻。換句話說(shuō),亞馬遜要走的道路,不僅僅是要像貝佐斯多年以來(lái)所做的那樣解決困擾客戶的問(wèn)題,而且要證明——亞馬遜已經(jīng)準(zhǔn)備好成為一個(gè)良好的企業(yè)公民。
在去年12月的亞馬遜云大會(huì)上,賈西表示,亞馬遜將盡力解決系統(tǒng)性的種族歧視問(wèn)題。但在幾個(gè)月后,一名亞馬遜云科技的黑人員工起訴亞馬遜,稱其存在種族和性別歧視。
“亞馬遜正在研究這個(gè)問(wèn)題,我知道很多公司都在這么做?!辟Z西說(shuō),“我們得共同努力好幾年。但我們必須這么做?!保ㄘ?cái)富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:Biz、Min、Feb、Shog、於欣、楊二一、陳聰聰
回顧安迪?賈西在亞馬遜的云計(jì)算貿(mào)易展上發(fā)表的主題演講,基本上都是以沉悶的企業(yè)軟件促銷(xiāo)作為開(kāi)場(chǎng)。
但去年12月,在從拉斯維加斯的會(huì)議大廳轉(zhuǎn)移到虛擬平臺(tái)舉辦的活動(dòng)上,作為亞馬遜云科技的負(fù)責(zé)人,安迪?賈西的表現(xiàn)與以往不同:他談到了社會(huì)問(wèn)題。他首先承認(rèn)了新冠疫情造成的悲劇,然后他談?wù)摿巳谌吮缓κ录?。這些事件在美國(guó)引發(fā)了史無(wú)前例的抗議活動(dòng)。
他說(shuō):“事實(shí)上,幾百年以來(lái),美國(guó)對(duì)待黑人的方式都是可恥的,必須做出改變?!?/p>
賈西在7月5日接替杰夫?貝佐斯擔(dān)任亞馬遜公司的首席執(zhí)行官。他將秉持這家企業(yè)的經(jīng)營(yíng)理念:客戶至上,行動(dòng)迅速,保持節(jié)儉。他與曾經(jīng)的上司貝佐斯一樣爭(zhēng)強(qiáng)好勝,并且不相信傳統(tǒng)觀念。
但53歲的賈西并不是貝佐斯的翻版。
他擅長(zhǎng)通過(guò)提問(wèn)來(lái)切入問(wèn)題的核心,擁有令人生畏的洞察能力。另外,他平易近人,與同事相處融洽。與一心專(zhuān)注于事業(yè)的貝佐斯不同,賈西一直關(guān)注外面的世界,他曾經(jīng)直言自己支持“黑人的命也是命”運(yùn)動(dòng)。
貝佐斯不會(huì)徹底消失。他將繼續(xù)擔(dān)任亞馬遜的執(zhí)行董事長(zhǎng),并計(jì)劃參與亞馬遜的新項(xiàng)目。在完成公司權(quán)力交接幾周之后,他就決定參加其火箭公司的亞軌道太空航行,這意味著貝佐斯不會(huì)一直對(duì)賈西的工作指手畫(huà)腳。貝佐斯始終相信他的副手能夠管理好亞馬遜。
賈西需要延續(xù)亞馬遜支持發(fā)明創(chuàng)新的策略,包括云計(jì)算、智能音箱、支持當(dāng)天發(fā)貨的高度自動(dòng)化倉(cāng)庫(kù)等。他將帶領(lǐng)亞馬遜應(yīng)對(duì)世界各地監(jiān)管部門(mén)的調(diào)查。各國(guó)目前都在調(diào)查美國(guó)的科技公司是否擁有太大的影響力。
此外,他還要負(fù)責(zé)兌現(xiàn)貝佐斯最近做出的改善員工待遇的承諾。在貝佐斯做出這番承諾之前,亞馬遜的倉(cāng)庫(kù)部門(mén)經(jīng)歷了長(zhǎng)達(dá)一年的混亂,其西雅圖總部也偶爾會(huì)曝出問(wèn)題。在賈西上任的幾天前,亞馬遜更新了領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力原則,敦促管理者要富有同情心,在決策時(shí)要考慮到員工和社會(huì)福利。
目前尚不確定賈西作為新任首席執(zhí)行官會(huì)推出哪些不同的舉措。他將支持亞馬遜對(duì)發(fā)明創(chuàng)新和勇于冒險(xiǎn)的偏好,除此之外,他尚未公開(kāi)談?wù)撨^(guò)自己要優(yōu)先實(shí)施的公司策略。亞馬遜拒絕了本文對(duì)賈西的采訪要求。
根據(jù)他的現(xiàn)任和前任同事、合作伙伴與競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手的采訪顯示,他會(huì)像貝佐斯一樣全力以赴抓住新機(jī)會(huì)。
1997年將賈西招入亞馬遜的珍妮弗?卡斯特說(shuō):“他至少會(huì)像杰夫一樣有雄心和膽量?!?/p>
鐵桿樂(lè)迷
賈西出生于紐約富人區(qū)斯卡斯代爾,在三個(gè)孩子中排行第二。他的父親是曼哈頓一家知名律師事務(wù)所的老板,母親是家庭主婦。一家人吃飯時(shí)的聊天內(nèi)容經(jīng)常會(huì)演變成關(guān)于球隊(duì)、老師或者最?lèi)?ài)的親人的爭(zhēng)論。
在2018年的一次畢業(yè)演講中,賈西說(shuō):“你在講故事的時(shí)候,總是會(huì)被細(xì)節(jié)或者你做的決定的有關(guān)問(wèn)題所打斷?!彼芸赡軙?huì)描述在氣氛緊張的會(huì)議中,坐在他對(duì)面的亞馬遜員工們的感受。
賈西年輕的時(shí)候是一名出色的網(wǎng)球運(yùn)動(dòng)員,踢過(guò)足球,還想過(guò)當(dāng)飛行員。除了學(xué)習(xí)以外,他不愛(ài)讀書(shū)。
他在斯卡斯代爾校區(qū)后援俱樂(lè)部中的一次演講中稱:“對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)上學(xué)就像是一種游戲?!彼兄x一位出色的美國(guó)歷史老師讓他愿意拿出更多的精力來(lái)完成家庭作業(yè)。
他后來(lái)被父親的母校哈佛大學(xué)錄取,并取得了政府管理專(zhuān)業(yè)的學(xué)位。之后他搬到了紐約,成為一名體育節(jié)目廣播員。但在ABC Sports和??怂沟墓ぷ髁钏械骄趩?,他不愿意用多年的工作來(lái)等待一次出鏡的機(jī)會(huì)。
他在亞馬遜也會(huì)經(jīng)常表現(xiàn)出這種急性子。后來(lái),賈西去了一家收藏品公司,還曾經(jīng)參與創(chuàng)建過(guò)一家初創(chuàng)公司,可惜這家公司沒(méi)有維持多久。之后,他重新回到哈佛商學(xué)院就讀。
當(dāng)時(shí)他的未婚妻是埃拉娜?卡普蘭,從小在加州南部長(zhǎng)大。賈西說(shuō),如果未婚妻同意幾年后搬回紐約,商學(xué)院畢業(yè)后就前往西部發(fā)展。當(dāng)時(shí)賈西希望去舊金山稅務(wù)軟件公司Intuit,不過(guò)時(shí)任亞馬遜市場(chǎng)總監(jiān)的卡斯特在商學(xué)院就業(yè)指導(dǎo)辦公室里的一堆簡(jiǎn)歷中發(fā)現(xiàn)了他。
1997年5月的一個(gè)周五,賈西參加期末考試。之后的周一他便加入了西雅圖的亞馬遜。再過(guò)了一周,亞馬遜上市。
賈西加入了規(guī)模很小的市場(chǎng)部,很快就被安排研究公司應(yīng)該賣(mài)哪些書(shū)。當(dāng)兩名商學(xué)院同學(xué)研究視頻和打包軟件時(shí),賈西寫(xiě)了亞馬遜進(jìn)駐音樂(lè)行業(yè)的計(jì)劃。
賈西是狂熱歌迷,愛(ài)好吉他重?fù)u滾、東海岸即興樂(lè)隊(duì)和創(chuàng)作歌手,所以成為亞馬遜CD業(yè)務(wù)的第一位負(fù)責(zé)人。后來(lái)他回憶說(shuō),壓力太大,還考慮過(guò)辭職。
回到市場(chǎng)部門(mén)工作一年左右之后,他加入了音樂(lè)團(tuán)隊(duì),協(xié)助領(lǐng)導(dǎo)由工商管理碩士、軟件工程師、前記者和DJ組成的雜牌軍。
團(tuán)隊(duì)在西雅圖市中心一座昏暗的磚房樓上辦公,經(jīng)常熬到深夜,伴著一樓俱樂(lè)部的重低音工作。等到第二天一早亞馬遜員工返回時(shí),酒吧里散發(fā)的污濁煙草味仍然彌漫在空氣中。有時(shí)晚上賈西會(huì)趁著團(tuán)隊(duì)成員在工位上吃晚飯時(shí)播放CD。
設(shè)計(jì)師彼得?希爾根多夫自20世紀(jì)90年代后期以來(lái)為亞馬遜工作過(guò)三段時(shí)間。有一次他正在加拿大溫哥華附近滑雪,早上6點(diǎn)左右,他接到賈西的電話,當(dāng)時(shí)亞馬遜正在考慮收購(gòu)網(wǎng)上點(diǎn)對(duì)點(diǎn)音樂(lè)共享服務(wù)Napster。
“賈西對(duì)我說(shuō):‘你可以在幾個(gè)小時(shí)內(nèi)到我的辦公室來(lái)一趟嗎?’我回答道:‘我在加拿大?!f(shuō):‘那你能夠在中午之前趕到這里嗎?’”
貝佐斯認(rèn)為,亞馬遜人應(yīng)該長(zhǎng)期、努力、聰明地工作。賈西從一開(kāi)始就體現(xiàn)了這些特質(zhì),并且要求周?chē)娜艘策@樣做。
音樂(lè)團(tuán)隊(duì)的一些成員通宵達(dá)旦地構(gòu)想著如果公司收購(gòu)了這個(gè)頗具開(kāi)創(chuàng)性但命運(yùn)多舛的文件共享服務(wù),亞馬遜數(shù)字音樂(lè)業(yè)務(wù)可能會(huì)變成什么樣子。亞馬遜對(duì)這件事情提出了不同的看法。
希爾根多夫說(shuō):“你可能只是去做一些創(chuàng)新性的項(xiàng)目,但他永遠(yuǎn)在不停地創(chuàng)新?!眮嗰R遜可以把業(yè)務(wù)拓展到音樂(lè)會(huì)門(mén)票領(lǐng)域嗎?能夠開(kāi)辦一家唱片公司嗎?“我們的下一個(gè)創(chuàng)新是什么?它的速度必須快,而且必須是有意義的?!?/p>
對(duì)亞馬遜的許多年輕核心員工來(lái)說(shuō),工作和個(gè)人生活是交織在一起的。
1998年,戴夫?沙佩爾被賈西招聘進(jìn)公司幫助組建亞馬遜的音樂(lè)團(tuán)隊(duì),當(dāng)時(shí)他搭了安迪和埃拉娜?賈西的順風(fēng)車(chē),他們要去西雅圖以東兩小時(shí)車(chē)程的一個(gè)傳奇性戶外圓形劇場(chǎng)聽(tīng)大衛(wèi)?馬修斯樂(lè)隊(duì)的音樂(lè)會(huì)。
沙佩爾說(shuō):“我在星期二搭上順風(fēng)車(chē),星期五晚上他帶我去了大峽谷。實(shí)際上他之前根本不認(rèn)識(shí)我?!?/p>
互聯(lián)網(wǎng)泡沫破滅后不久,貝佐斯要求賈西成為他的“跟班”——這是一個(gè)類(lèi)似于辦公室主任的臨時(shí)職位,只授予最有前途的管理人員。
在大約一年半的時(shí)間里,賈西每天都跟著貝佐斯,開(kāi)會(huì)時(shí)和他坐在一起,或者充當(dāng)貝佐斯的耳朵,旁聽(tīng)貝佐斯到場(chǎng)可能會(huì)使討論跑偏的會(huì)議。
貝佐斯對(duì)賈西喜愛(ài)有加,據(jù)亞馬遜的一位高管團(tuán)隊(duì)成員說(shuō),貝佐斯甚至在市場(chǎng)部的一輪裁員中力保賈西,稱他是“公司最有潛力的人之一”。貝佐斯對(duì)賈西擁有絕對(duì)的信任,有些高管為了避免與脾氣暴躁的首席執(zhí)行官發(fā)生沖突,偶爾會(huì)有言不發(fā),然而賈西卻對(duì)貝佐斯直言不諱。
“他是會(huì)告訴你真相的那個(gè)人?!痹?jīng)擔(dān)任貝佐斯技術(shù)顧問(wèn)的亞馬遜前高管伊恩?弗里德說(shuō)?!八麜?huì)以一種深思熟慮和尊重的方式說(shuō):‘杰夫,這是我在那次會(huì)議上看到的,這是我認(rèn)為我們應(yīng)該嘗試其它方式的原因?!?/p>
亞馬遜云科技的初創(chuàng)時(shí)期
大約在這時(shí),亞馬遜開(kāi)始重組其技術(shù)建設(shè)部門(mén)。因?yàn)樾掠?jì)劃陷入了困境,然而把問(wèn)題交給開(kāi)發(fā)人員解決,并不能夠加快進(jìn)展。
亞馬遜決定將人員繁復(fù)的技術(shù)團(tuán)隊(duì)拆分為專(zhuān)門(mén)提供單項(xiàng)服務(wù)或負(fù)責(zé)單個(gè)組件的工作小組。亞馬遜并不要求技術(shù)開(kāi)發(fā)人員在進(jìn)行新項(xiàng)目時(shí)相互協(xié)調(diào),取而代之的是讓其將他們的軟件設(shè)置完善以便其他人可以毫不費(fèi)力地使用它。
貝佐斯和他的左膀右臂很有先見(jiàn)之明,預(yù)見(jiàn)到了互聯(lián)網(wǎng)對(duì)零售業(yè)的顛覆性力量,他們認(rèn)為類(lèi)似的革命可能也會(huì)出現(xiàn)在計(jì)算領(lǐng)域。
2003年,賈西辭去了貝佐斯影子顧問(wèn)的工作,開(kāi)始構(gòu)思這樣的企業(yè)可能如何運(yùn)作并向董事會(huì)提議。于是,當(dāng)董事會(huì)批準(zhǔn)了他的建議,亞馬遜云科技搶在微軟或谷歌等高科技競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手發(fā)現(xiàn)機(jī)會(huì)之前上市。三年后,亞馬遜云科技推出了第一批主打產(chǎn)品。
最初,他們的最佳顧客是技術(shù)初創(chuàng)公司,這些公司還沒(méi)有致力于開(kāi)發(fā)大型計(jì)算機(jī)或后臺(tái)服務(wù)器。亞馬遜的“隨用隨付”模式消除了購(gòu)買(mǎi)一套新服務(wù)器帶來(lái)的高昂成本沖擊,為愛(ài)彼迎等新貴提供了一種只在需要時(shí)添加資源的最新技術(shù)。
科技巨頭們遲遲沒(méi)有意識(shí)到這一威脅,這讓賈西和西雅圖的其他高管感到困惑。
“我們吸引了競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手的注意。他們總有一天會(huì)來(lái)找我們。”亞馬遜云科技的一名前經(jīng)理說(shuō)。“他們擁有我們沒(méi)有的內(nèi)在優(yōu)勢(shì)。所以我們總是多疑。為了保持領(lǐng)先,我們最好拼命跑,因?yàn)轭I(lǐng)先是我們唯一的優(yōu)勢(shì)?!?/p>
人們不知道亞馬遜云科技究竟領(lǐng)先世界多遠(yuǎn),因?yàn)橐恢钡?015年,貝佐斯和賈西都將亞馬遜云科技的銷(xiāo)售額隱藏在亞馬遜的財(cái)務(wù)業(yè)績(jī)中。此后,大公司紛紛放棄投資數(shù)據(jù)中心,轉(zhuǎn)而支持該公司的服務(wù)。
就像個(gè)人電腦全盛時(shí)期的微軟一樣,亞馬遜云科技也宣稱自己是新計(jì)算時(shí)代的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者。與微軟一樣,該公司也被指責(zé)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)不當(dāng)。無(wú)論是推出攻擊合作伙伴企業(yè)的產(chǎn)品,還是尋求將他人開(kāi)發(fā)的開(kāi)源項(xiàng)目商業(yè)化,都備受指責(zé)。
員工們表示,亞馬遜的觀點(diǎn)是,如果亞馬遜云科技的工程師認(rèn)為他們能夠解決客戶普遍遇到的問(wèn)題,他們就應(yīng)該這么做。
“亞馬遜將根據(jù)使用亞馬遜云科技并在店里購(gòu)物的客戶的需求構(gòu)建和開(kāi)發(fā)軟件?!痹摴镜囊幻l(fā)言人在電子郵件中表示。
根據(jù)Gartner公司的數(shù)據(jù),到2020年,亞馬遜占據(jù)了云計(jì)算基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施服務(wù)近41%的市場(chǎng)份額。云計(jì)算基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施服務(wù)是企業(yè)用來(lái)構(gòu)建軟件和運(yùn)行系統(tǒng)的基礎(chǔ)構(gòu)件。這是第二名微軟的兩倍多。
賈西在一年一度的“re:Invent客戶大會(huì)”上發(fā)表演講時(shí),通常會(huì)回顧這些數(shù)據(jù)。在過(guò)去的兩年里,這部分演示被錄制了下來(lái),這促使一些與會(huì)者懷疑這是否加重亞馬遜日益增長(zhǎng)的反壟斷壓力。
一名公司發(fā)言人稱,由于授權(quán)限制,亞馬遜在發(fā)布視頻之前刪除了這些數(shù)據(jù)。
賈西曾經(jīng)與貝佐斯和其他高管一起制定亞馬遜的指導(dǎo)原則,在建立亞馬遜云科技的寫(xiě)作和數(shù)據(jù)驅(qū)動(dòng)文化時(shí),他完全遵循了這些原則。員工會(huì)用簡(jiǎn)短的書(shū)面文字來(lái)表達(dá)想法。
在亞馬遜的工作生活中,員工每周都要與老板進(jìn)行運(yùn)營(yíng)和產(chǎn)品評(píng)估。賈西的問(wèn)題往往排在最后,他的質(zhì)問(wèn)往往會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)提案者或陳述者沒(méi)有充分考慮過(guò)的假設(shè)中的弱點(diǎn)。批評(píng)可能是尖銳的,但賈西并沒(méi)有把它當(dāng)成私人恩怨,無(wú)論是現(xiàn)在還是之前的同事都如此表示。
項(xiàng)目通常被分配給有很大自主性的小型團(tuán)隊(duì),而賈西喜歡推遲看似無(wú)法完成的最后期限。確實(shí),職業(yè)倦怠是常見(jiàn)的。
一個(gè)在亞馬遜云科技經(jīng)常被提及的問(wèn)題來(lái)自于賈西:怎樣才可以讓你正在開(kāi)發(fā)的產(chǎn)品規(guī)模擴(kuò)大10倍?
“這絕對(duì)是一場(chǎng)沖刺,而且是一場(chǎng)連續(xù)的沖刺。”亞馬遜云科技早期的產(chǎn)品經(jīng)理彼得?西羅塔說(shuō)。
為了團(tuán)結(jié)人心,賈西在開(kāi)會(huì)的時(shí)候,都會(huì)以感謝他的團(tuán)隊(duì)開(kāi)場(chǎng)和收尾,這在一家充滿雄心勃勃、爭(zhēng)強(qiáng)好勝的 A 型人格員工的公司中,是一個(gè)很不尋常的細(xì)節(jié)。
許多亞馬遜人都會(huì)回憶起這樣的故事:當(dāng)賈西試圖與他們建立私交時(shí),經(jīng)常利用他在體育、音樂(lè)和獨(dú)立電影方面如百科全書(shū)一般的知識(shí)儲(chǔ)備,來(lái)尋找共同話題。雖然貝佐斯在開(kāi)會(huì)的時(shí)候能夠?qū)谧琅缘南聦俦憩F(xiàn)得興趣寡然,但賈西更可能會(huì)與即將上去做展示的產(chǎn)品經(jīng)理閑聊幾句。
他喜歡可以挑起團(tuán)隊(duì)成員競(jìng)爭(zhēng)欲望的游戲——盡管這些游戲看起來(lái)有點(diǎn)傻。
在音樂(lè)團(tuán)隊(duì)工作期間,賈西曾經(jīng)在辦公室組織了一場(chǎng)名為“懸崖”的游戲,挑戰(zhàn)者共有三次機(jī)會(huì),將馬克筆扔到白板上并粘住。
“你會(huì)聽(tīng)到人們尖叫?!彼谝魳?lè)團(tuán)隊(duì)的主管卡斯特說(shuō)?!八膭儇?fù)欲非常、非常強(qiáng)烈?!?/p>
賈西一直是紐約幾支球隊(duì)的忠實(shí)粉絲,尤其是流浪者隊(duì)和巨人隊(duì),還擁有一點(diǎn)曲棍球聯(lián)盟中西雅圖海妖隊(duì)的官方股權(quán)。賈西的朋友和同事會(huì)一起到他的地下酒吧看比賽,他們有的還經(jīng)營(yíng)著籃球館和精彩的足球聯(lián)賽。
多年來(lái),他還一直贊助亞馬遜的“吃雞翅大賽”,該比賽現(xiàn)在成了亞馬遜云科技客戶大會(huì)上的保留節(jié)目。
他給了團(tuán)隊(duì)成員很大的自主權(quán),但在被任命接棒亞馬遜的首席執(zhí)行官之前,他仍然大量參與亞馬遜云科技的日常運(yùn)營(yíng)。他會(huì)親自編輯新聞稿和市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷(xiāo)材料,協(xié)助產(chǎn)品的命名工作,而且對(duì)定價(jià)頗有見(jiàn)地。他還會(huì)監(jiān)控推特上的動(dòng)態(tài)。
此外,他也會(huì)記錄有關(guān)服務(wù)中斷的電子郵件——每封郵件都標(biāo)志著一次不可原諒的失誤——并且偶爾也會(huì)進(jìn)入員工的收件箱,以確保他們已經(jīng)看到了問(wèn)題。他唯一能夠接受下屬給他的答復(fù)是“團(tuán)隊(duì)已經(jīng)在制定解決方案”。
一些員工稱,要得到賈西的點(diǎn)頭實(shí)在是太不容易了。團(tuán)隊(duì)需要花費(fèi)數(shù)周或數(shù)月的時(shí)間來(lái)討論問(wèn)題、編輯文檔,以便讓他們“準(zhǔn)備好接賈西的招”。
亞馬遜的一些員工擔(dān)心,如果他試圖繼續(xù)挪用這種方法來(lái)指揮整個(gè)公司,很可能會(huì)失靈。
三名與賈西密切合作過(guò)的人表示,在亞馬遜云科技對(duì)跳槽到對(duì)家的員工發(fā)起威脅和反競(jìng)業(yè)訴訟時(shí),他是幕后推手。亞馬遜則否認(rèn)了這一點(diǎn)。
最近因此官司纏身的是營(yíng)銷(xiāo)主管布賴恩?霍爾,他跳槽去了谷歌,相關(guān)案件也秘密地得到了解決。
“那讓安迪感到被背叛?!逼渲幸晃蝗耸吭谡劦较嚓P(guān)訴訟時(shí)指出?!八麜?huì)不惜一切代價(jià)來(lái)圍堵你。他不僅會(huì)密切關(guān)注留下的人,也同樣密切關(guān)注著那些離開(kāi)的人。”
隨著亞馬遜云科技的發(fā)展,賈西也開(kāi)始轉(zhuǎn)型,把他厚重的法蘭絨衣服換成了方格紐扣襯衫,通常也會(huì)搭配牛仔褲和運(yùn)動(dòng)鞋。
他還開(kāi)始減肥,每天在他自家的健身房里踩一個(gè)小時(shí)踏步機(jī),用鍛煉開(kāi)啟他的一天,一邊用后臺(tái)放著娛樂(lè)與體育節(jié)目電視網(wǎng)的節(jié)目,一邊查看前一天晚上帶回家的文件。他也不再喝健怡可樂(lè)他曾經(jīng)被看到從自己20世紀(jì)90年代的吉普切諾基車(chē)后隨手扔掉過(guò)健怡可樂(lè)罐),而是開(kāi)始喝瓶裝水。
近年來(lái),貝佐斯已經(jīng)成長(zhǎng)為穿著高級(jí)定制襯衫的精致角色,而現(xiàn)在,他正將掌印交給一位衣著略顯皺巴巴,甚至有些樸素的高管。
都市的根
無(wú)論是在亞馬遜公司內(nèi)部還是在公共場(chǎng)合講話時(shí),賈西都很謹(jǐn)言慎行,與貝佐斯一直在給客戶唱贊歌相呼應(yīng)。同事們都說(shuō),他有著幾乎過(guò)目不忘的記憶力,而且盡管他沒(méi)有接受過(guò)正式的工程師培訓(xùn),卻可以對(duì)數(shù)據(jù)和技術(shù)有關(guān)的話題侃侃而談。
在西雅圖蒸蒸日上的科技行業(yè),許多高管住在郊區(qū)的湖畔社區(qū)。但是,賈西一家卻選擇在市區(qū)扎根。
他們?cè)?009年購(gòu)買(mǎi)了一套面積1萬(wàn)平方英尺(約929.03平方米)的住宅,住宅里還有一個(gè)網(wǎng)球場(chǎng)和一個(gè)門(mén)廊,門(mén)廊的框架則是高聳的科林斯式石柱。住宅坐落在西雅圖市中心的一個(gè)社區(qū),步行就能夠到達(dá)一排酒吧和餐館——這些地方有時(shí)會(huì)變身深夜會(huì)議的場(chǎng)所。
賈西回復(fù)電子郵件相當(dāng)及時(shí),但他也勤于為家人留出時(shí)間,避免參加一些一直持續(xù)到晚上的會(huì)議,早上他還會(huì)抽出時(shí)間站立吃早餐,或和孩子們打一場(chǎng)網(wǎng)球比賽。他的兩個(gè)孩子,如今一個(gè)20歲,一個(gè)17歲。
在流浪現(xiàn)象成為西雅圖一個(gè)非常重要的公共問(wèn)題之后,亞馬遜的一個(gè)案例被指加劇了這一問(wèn)題,賈西和一名時(shí)任市議會(huì)成員一起評(píng)估了危機(jī)的范圍。
直到時(shí)任市議會(huì)成員莎莉?巴格肖注意到賈西的安保人員在一旁保持恭敬距離、緊緊跟隨著他時(shí),她才明白過(guò)來(lái)這位來(lái)自亞馬遜、自稱“安迪”的家伙是個(gè)大人物。
朋友和同事們說(shuō),盡管賈西在工作中刻意避免發(fā)表黨派政治評(píng)論,他們從賈西身上也沒(méi)有看到貝佐斯的自由意志主義傾向。埃拉娜?賈西近年來(lái)一直為民主黨候選人和委員會(huì)捐款。
或許,他給首席執(zhí)行官這個(gè)職位帶來(lái)的最大的、最直接的變化,是裝飾性的。貝佐斯是世界首富,他在美國(guó)各地?fù)碛泻廊A住宅,擁有一家火箭公司,還擁有《華盛頓郵報(bào)》,簡(jiǎn)直就像卡通片里的富豪。貝佐斯還是收入不平等抨擊者、反壟斷學(xué)者和工會(huì)的攻擊目標(biāo)。
據(jù)彭博億萬(wàn)富翁指數(shù)顯示,賈西本人相當(dāng)富有,身價(jià)約為5億美元。但在科技圈之外,他只是個(gè)默默無(wú)聞的小人物——這讓亞馬遜有機(jī)會(huì)把他推介給大眾。
在他的帶領(lǐng)之下,亞馬遜云科技從57名員工發(fā)展到數(shù)萬(wàn)名員工,年?duì)I收金額超過(guò)500億美元,而他與亞馬遜云科技的合作也已經(jīng)成為商學(xué)院案例研究的經(jīng)典主題。
貝佐斯是一個(gè)“一分鐘就能夠想出主意”的機(jī)器,他的“主意”催生了Alexa數(shù)字助理和去收銀員化的Amazon Go商店,而賈西更是出名的創(chuàng)造性思維的促進(jìn)者。
如果問(wèn)賈西從貝佐斯身上學(xué)到了什么,那就一定是要放眼長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)。亞馬遜正在面臨歐洲對(duì)其使用賣(mài)家數(shù)據(jù)的調(diào)查,美國(guó)擬議的立法將迫使亞馬遜將物流業(yè)務(wù)從其零售網(wǎng)站中剝離,哥倫比亞特區(qū)的一項(xiàng)反壟斷訴訟指控亞馬遜提高了消費(fèi)者價(jià)格——這些問(wèn)題或?qū)⑿枰獢?shù)年時(shí)間才可以解決,亞馬遜有充足的時(shí)間斟酌回應(yīng)。
到目前為止,亞馬遜似乎傾向于采取更激進(jìn)的姿態(tài),與批評(píng)它的國(guó)會(huì)議員展開(kāi)爭(zhēng)論,并動(dòng)員亞馬遜的公關(guān)部門(mén),將自己這個(gè)電子商務(wù)巨頭描繪成“小企業(yè)的伙伴”。
賈西將留下的東西,不僅在于繼續(xù)增加Prime的忠實(shí)會(huì)員,或是增加亞馬遜云科技在技術(shù)支出中的份額,還在于他將如何領(lǐng)導(dǎo)亞馬遜度過(guò)反壟斷糾紛和“文化清算”的時(shí)刻。換句話說(shuō),亞馬遜要走的道路,不僅僅是要像貝佐斯多年以來(lái)所做的那樣解決困擾客戶的問(wèn)題,而且要證明——亞馬遜已經(jīng)準(zhǔn)備好成為一個(gè)良好的企業(yè)公民。
在去年12月的亞馬遜云大會(huì)上,賈西表示,亞馬遜將盡力解決系統(tǒng)性的種族歧視問(wèn)題。但在幾個(gè)月后,一名亞馬遜云科技的黑人員工起訴亞馬遜,稱其存在種族和性別歧視。
“亞馬遜正在研究這個(gè)問(wèn)題,我知道很多公司都在這么做?!辟Z西說(shuō),“我們得共同努力好幾年。但我們必須這么做?!保ㄘ?cái)富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:Biz、Min、Feb、Shog、於欣、楊二一、陳聰聰
Andy Jassy usually starts his keynote at Amazon.com’s cloud-computing trade show with what amounts to a tedious infomercial for corporate software.
But last December, at an event held virtually rather than in a Las Vegas ballroom, the Amazon Web Services boss did something different: He talked about society. After acknowledging the tragedy of the coronavirus pandemic, Jassy called out the killings of three Black Americans that had sparked unprecedented protests across the country.
“The reality is for the last several hundred years, the way we treated Black people in this country is disgraceful and something that has to change,” he said.
Jassy, who succeeds Jeff Bezos as Amazon’s chief executive on July 5, is steeped in the company’s corporate religion: Put customers first, move fast, be frugal. He shares his boss’s competitive streak and mistrust of conventional wisdom.
But the 53-year-old executive is no Bezos clone. Known for piercing questions that cut to the heart of the matter, he has a formidable radar for subordinates’ hyperbole. At the same time, he is unassuming and connects easily with colleagues. Moreover, unlike the sometimes single-minded Bezos, Jassy has long engaged with society outside Amazon’s walls, as he showed by declaring unequivocally that Black lives matter.
Bezos isn’t going away entirely. He’ll remain executive chairman of Amazon’s board and plans to stay involved with the company’s new projects. Yet his decision to hitch a ride on his rocket company’s suborbital space flight just weeks after handing over control suggests Bezos won’t constantly be second-guessing Jassy, a deputy he’s long trusted to manage his own shop.
It falls to Jassy to continue Amazon’s track record of invention, which extends from cloud-computing and smart speakers to the heavily automated warehouses that enable one-day shipping. He will dictate Amazon’s response to regulators around the world who are probing whether big U.S. tech companies have become too powerful. And he’ll have the task of seeing through Bezos’s recent pledge that the company will do better by employees, a declaration that follows a year of unrest in the company’s warehouses and, occasionally, at its Seattle headquarters. Days before Jassy’s ascension, the company updated its leadership principles, urging managers to lead with empathy and consider employee and societal welfare when making decisions.
It’s not clear what Jassy might do differently in the CEO’s chair and, aside from endorsing Amazon’s preference for invention and big bets, he’s been publicly quiet about his priorities. The company declined to make him available for this profile.
Interviews with current and former colleagues, partners and competitors suggest he’ll be as hard-charging as Bezos when pursuing new opportunities. “He will be just as ambitious and bold as Jeff has been, if not more so,” said Jennifer Cast, who hired Jassy at Amazon in 1997.
Obsessive music fan
Jassy grew up in the affluent New York suburb of Scarsdale, the middle of three children. His father led a prominent Manhattan law firm, and his mother was a homemaker. Dinner-table conversation frequently turned into debate about sports teams, teachers or favorite relatives.
“You never got away with telling a story without being interrupted constantly with questions about the details or decisions you made,” Jassy said in a 2018 commencement address. He could easily have been describing how Amazon employees feel sitting across from him in high-pressure meetings.
A skilled youth tennis player, Jassy also played soccer and considered himself a jock. He didn’t read outside of his studies. “School was a bit of a game to me,” he said in a speech at the Scarsdale school district booster club, where he credited a talented American history teacher with getting him to engage more with schoolwork.
After following his father to Harvard and earning a degree in government, Jassy moved to New York to pursue a career as a sportscaster. Stints at ABC Sports and Fox ended in frustration at the prospect of putting in years of work before getting a shot, impatience often found in the halls of Amazon. Jassy later worked for a collectibles company and co-founded a short-lived startup, before returning to Harvard for business school.
His then-fiancée, Elana Caplan, grew up in southern California, and Jassy said he would go out west after business school if she agreed to move back to New York after a few years. Jassy figured he was in the running for a job in San Francisco with tax preparation software maker Intuit when Cast, then Amazon’s marketing chief, spotted his resume in a pile from the business-school career office.
Jassy took his final exam on a Friday in May 1997 and joined Amazon in Seattle the next Monday, a week before the company’s initial public offering.
Posted to the tiny marketing department, Jassy was quickly drafted to explore what the company should sell after books. While two business-school classmates studied video and packaged software, Jassy wrote the plan for Amazon’s entrance into the music business.
An obsessive fan whose tastes span guitar-heavy rock, East Coast jam bands and singer-songwriters, Jassy was passed over to be the first leader of Amazon’s CD business. He was crushed and considered quitting, he later recalled.
After another year or so back in marketing, he made it to the music team, helping lead a ragtag group of MBAs, software engineers, former journalists and DJs. Working on an upper floor of a dingy brick building in downtown Seattle, the team often stayed late enough to feel the thumping bass from a club on the ground floor. Stale cigarette smoke from the bar still hung in the air when the Amazonians returned early the next morning.Jassy sometimes played CDs in the evenings as the team ate dinner at their desks.
Peter Hilgendorf, a designer who did three stints at Amazon, starting in the late 1990s, was on a ski trip near Vancouver, British Columbia, when he got a call from Jassy at about 6 a.m. Amazon was considering making an offer for Napster.
“He’s like, ‘can I get you to come into the office in a couple hours?’” Hilgendorf said. “I’m like, ‘I’m in Canada.’ He says, ‘OK, can you get here by noon?’”
A Bezos edict holds that Amazonians must work long, hard and smart. Jassy embodied that from the beginning—and required it of those around him. A few members of the music team pulled an all-nighter to sketch out what an Amazon digital music business might look like if the company acquired the pioneering but ill-fated file-sharing service. Amazon disputes that description of events.
“You just do these experiments, and he was always, always, always working on experiments,” Hilgendorf said. Could Amazon get into concert tickets? Start a record label? “What’s the next thing? It had to be fast, and had to be meaningful.”
For many of the mostly young core of employees at Amazon, work and personal lives blended. Dave Schappell, hired by Jassy in 1998 to help build out Amazon’s music team, found himself hitching a ride with Andy and Elana Jassy, who were going toa Dave Matthews Band concert two hours east of Seattle at a legendary outdoor amphitheater. “I started on a Tuesday, and on Friday night he took me out to the Gorge,” Schappell said. “Literally, he didn’t know me.”
Shortly after the dot-com bust, Bezos asked Jassy to become his shadow—a temporary chief-of-staff-like posting awarded only to the most promising managers. For about 18 months, Jassy followed the boss around every day, sitting with him in meetings and serving as his ears in rooms where Bezos’s presence could throw discussions off track. Bezos was already a Jassy fan—even saving his job during a round of layoffs in the marketing department and dubbing him “one of our most high potential people,” according to a member of Bezos’s executive team. He came to trust Jassy implicitly. Unlike some executives who occasionally censored themselves to avoid confrontation with a temperamental CEO, Jassy told it to Bezos straight.
“He was someone who will tell you the truth,” said Ian Freed, a former Amazon executive who also worked as Bezos’s technical adviser. “He would say it in a thoughtful and respectful way: ‘Jeff, here’s what I saw in that meeting, and here’s why I think we should try it in a different way.’”
AWS is born
At about this time, Amazon was starting to reorganize its technology infrastructure. New initiatives were getting bogged down, and throwing more developers at the problem didn’t speed things up. Amazon decided to break apart cumbersome technology teams into smaller groups responsible for a single service or component. Instead of asking them to coordinate when pursuing new projects, they would set up their software so that others could tap into it without any additional effort.
Bezos and his deputies, prescient in foreseeing the internet’s disruptive power in retail, figured a similar revolution might also be coming to computing. In 2003, Jassy left the shadow job to outline how such a business might work and, when the board approved his proposal, bring it to market before a high-tech rival like Microsoft or Google spied the opportunity. Amazon Web Services launched its first major offerings three years later.
Their best customers at first were technology startups, companies not already committed to mainframe computers or backroom servers. Amazon’s pay-for-what-you-use model eliminated the sticker shock of buying a new set of servers, offering upstarts like Airbnb a way to use the latest technology and only add resources as it needed them.
Corporate technology giants were slow to recognize the threat, puzzling Jassy and other executives in Seattle.
“We paid a lot of attention to our competitors. They gotta be coming for us at some point,” a former AWS manager said. “They had these built-in advantages that we didn’t have. So we’re always paranoid. We’d better be running like hell to stay far ahead, because being ahead is the only advantage we have.”
How far ahead the world didn’t know because Bezos and Jassy had AWS’s sales buried in Amazon’s financial results until 2015. By then, big companies were unplugging data centers in favor of the company’s services.
Like Microsoft in the heyday of the personal computer, AWS staked its claim as the leader in a new era of computing. And like Microsoft, AWS has been accused of being hypercompetitive, whether rolling out products that trample those of partners, or seeking to commercialize open-source projects built by others. Amazon’s view, employees say, is that if AWS engineers think they can solve a problem affecting enough customers, they should do it. “Amazon is focused on building and inventing on behalf of customers who use AWS and shop in our store,” a company spokesman said in an email.
In 2020, according to Gartner, Amazon held almost 41% of the market for cloud-computing infrastructure services, the foundational building blocks companies use to build software and run their systems. That’s more than double the market share of second-place Microsoft. Jassy typically goes over those stats during his speech at the annual re:Invent customer conference. In the last two years that portion of the presentation was nixed from recorded versions, prompting some attendees to wonder if the growing antitrust pressure on Amazon was a factor. A company spokesman said Amazon removed the data before posting the videos because of licensing restrictions.
Jassy, who worked with Bezos and other executives to craft Amazon’s guiding principles, followed them to the letter in setting up AWS’s writing- and data-driven culture. Employees present ideas as short, written narratives. Life at AWS is punctuated by weekly operational and product reviews with the boss. Jassy’s questions tend to come last, and his interrogation often identifies weak spots in a proposal or assumptions presenters hadn’t fully thought through. Criticism can be searing, but Jassy doesn’t make it personal, current and former colleagues say.
Projects are assigned to small, largely self-directed teams, and Jassy relishes pushing for impossible-seeming deadlines. Burnout is common. A frequent question that bounces around AWS comes from Jassy: What would it take to make what you’re working on 10 times its size?
“It was absolutely a sprint,” said Peter Sirota, an early AWS product manager. “A continuous sprint.”
To rally the troops, Jassy begins and ends meetings by thanking his teams, uncommon niceties at a company full of confrontational, Type-A personalities. Many Amazonians have stories of moments when Jassy sought to connect with them on a personal level, often using his encyclopedic knowledge of sports, music and indie movies to find common ground. While Bezos can go through meetings without showing much interest in the underlings sitting around the table, Jassy is more likely to strike up small talk with product managers waiting to present.
He likes silly games that bring out his team’s competitive urge. During his days on the music team, Jassy’s office hosted a game called “The Ledge,” where challengers had three chances to throw and land a dry erase marker on the white board. “You’d hear people screaming,” said Cast, who was his supervisor on the music team. “He’s just very, very competitive.”
Jassy never fell out of love with New York sports teams, particularly the Rangers and Giants, and owns a minority stake in the Seattle Kraken expansion hockey franchise. Jassy has friends and coworkers over to watch games in his basement bar, runs basketball pools and fantasy football leagues. For years he has sponsored an Amazon chicken-wing eating contest, a version of which is now featured at AWS’s customer conference.
He gives teams wide latitude to steer their own course, but prior to being named Amazon’s CEO-in-waiting, remained heavily involved in day-to-day operations at AWS. He edits press releases and marketing materials, helps name products and has strong opinions on where to set prices. He monitors Twitter.
And he’s copied on emails about service disruptions—each one an unacceptable failure—and occasionally drops into employees’ inboxes to make sure they’ve seen the problem. The only appropriate response is that the team is already working on a resolution. Some employees say seeking Jassy’s approval can be a bottleneck. Teams spend weeks or months debating and editing documents to get them “Andy-ready.” Some at Amazon worry that such an approach would fail if he seeks to replicate it in steering the entire company.
Three people who have worked closely with Jassy say he’s behind AWS’s threats and non-compete lawsuits against employees who leave for rivals. Amazon denies this. The litigious pattern recently fell on Brian Hall, a marketing executive who decamped for Google and whose case was settled confidentially.
“That’s Andy feeling a betrayal,” one of the people said of the lawsuits. “I’m going to come after you with everything I’ve got. It’s as much for the folks that remain as the folks that leave.”
As AWS grew, Jassy replaced elements of his flannel-heavy uniform for a rotation of checkered button-down shirts, typically paired with jeans and sneakers. He lost weight, starting his days with an hour on an elliptical machine at his home gym, ESPN on in the background as he reviews documents brought home the night before. He switched from Diet Coke—cans of which he once chucked indiscriminately in the back of his 1990s Jeep Cherokee—to bottled water. Bezos, who in recent years has swelled into an action figure in tailored shirts, is handing the reins to a slightly rumpled and frugally dressed executive.
Urban roots
Whether speaking at Amazon or in public, Jassy is disciplined, echoing Bezos’s paeans to customers. Colleagues say he has a near-photographic memory and easy fluency with data and technical topics despite a lack of formal training as an engineer.
Many executives in Seattle’s booming technology sector live on lakeside compounds in the suburbs. The Jassys opted to put down urban roots, in 2009 buying a 10,000-square-foot home, complete with a tennis court and a porch framed by towering Corinthian columns. The house sits in a central Seattle neighborhood that’s walking distance from a strip of bars and restaurants, which have become occasional venues for late-night meetings. Known for responding to email at all hours, Jassy is also diligent in setting aside time for his family, excusing himself from some meetings that run into the evening and holding time in the mornings for standing breakfasts or tennis matches with his kids, now aged 20 and 17.
After homelessness became an all-consuming civic issue in Seattle, one Amazon was accused of exacerbating, Jassy joined a city council member on a one-night count to assess the scope of the crisis. The now-former councilmember, Sally Bagshaw, had no idea that guy who introduced himself as Andy from Amazon was a big deal until she noticed his security detail trailing them from a respectful distance.
Friends and coworkers say they detect in Jassy none of Bezos’s libertarian leanings, though he studiously avoids partisan political commentary at work. Elana Jassy has donated to Democratic candidates and committees in recent years.
Perhaps the biggest immediate change he brings to the CEO role is cosmetic. Bezos, the world’s richest man, owns lavish homes across the U.S., a rocket company and the Washington Post, cutting the figure of a cartoon plutocrat. He is a go-to target for income-inequality critics, anti-monopoly scholars and labor unions.
Jassy himself is quite wealthy—he’s worth roughly $500 million, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index—but he’s an unknown quantity outside technology circles, giving Amazon an opportunity to introduce him to the public.
Jassy’s work with AWS, a business he steered from 57 employees to tens of thousands and annual revenue of more than $50 billion, is already the subject of reverent business-school case studies. But while Bezos is an idea-a-minute machine whose musings led to the Alexa digital assistant and cashierless Amazon Go stores, Jassy is better known as a facilitator of creative thinking in others.
If Jassy has learned one thing from Bezos, it’s to take the long view. Amazon faces European inquiries into how it uses seller data, proposed legislation in the U.S. that would force the company to cleave its logistics business from its retail website and a District of Columbia antitrust lawsuit alleging it raised prices on customers. These inquiries are expected to take years to resolve, so Amazon has time to tinker with its response.
So far, the company seems bent on a more aggressive posture, sparring with critical members of Congress and marshalling Amazon’s public-policy arm to portray the e-commerce giant as a friend to small business. Jassy’s legacy will rest not just on continuing to add loyal Prime members and increase AWS’s share of technology spending, but on how he leads Amazon through its antitrust entanglements and moment of cultural reckoning. The roadmap, in other words, is not just to fix what ails customers, as Bezos did profitably for so many years, but to demonstrate that Amazon is ready to be a good corporate citizen.
At Amazon’s cloud conference last December, Jassy said Amazon would do its part to address systemic racism, a commitment he reinforced months later after a Black AWS employee sued the company, claiming racial and gender discrimination.
“We’re working on it at Amazon, I know a lot of companies are,” Jassy said. “It’s going to take several years of us working together, but we need to do it.”