Amazon Web Services (AWS) CEO Adam Selipsky has stepped down from the company.
First reported by The Verge and confirmed by the company via blog post, Matt Garman is taking over as CEO of Amazon’s cloud unit, effective June 3.
“I’d like to thank Adam for everything he’s done to lead AWS over the past three years,” Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said. “He took over in the middle of the pandemic, which presented a wide array of leadership and business challenges. Under his direction, the team made the right long-term decision to help customers become more efficient in their spend, even if it meant less short-term revenue for AWS.”
Garman, most recently SVP of AWS sales, marketing, and global services at Amazon, has spent most of his career to date with Amazon. He started at the company as an MBA intern in 2005, joining full-time the following year as one of the first AWS product managers. He was later general manager for EC2 and VP of compute services.
“Matt has an unusually strong set of skills and experiences for his new role,” Jassy said of Garman. “He’s very customer-focused, a terrific product leader, inventive, a clever problem-solver, right a lot, has high standards and meaningful bias for action, and in the 18 years he’s been in AWS, he’s been one of the better learners I’ve encountered. Matt knows our customers and business as well as anybody in the world, and has senior leadership experience on both the product and demand generation sides. I’m excited to see Matt and his outstanding AWS leadership team continue to invent our future—it’s still such early days in AWS. ”
Garman said: “For me, AWS is much more than just a business. We are a team of missionaries working passionately to help make our customers’ lives and businesses better every day. It has been a privilege to work alongside all of you for the past 18 years, and I am humbled for the opportunity to continue to do so in this new broader role.”
Selipsky took the helm of AWS in March 2021, taking over the position from Jassy. He first left Amazon in 2016 after a 10-year stint to become Tableau CEO, returning to lead AWS after Jassy was promoted to CEO of the wider Amazon group. Prior to taking over the company from founder Jeff Bezos, Jassy had led Amazon’s cloud unit since 2006.
Jassy said Selipsky is now moving onto “his next challenge after taking a well-deserved respite.”
Selipsky said: “I take this next step with truly mixed emotions; I have spent almost 15 combined years in AWS, and it has been a real privilege. I am so grateful for all that I’ve learned about technology, leadership, organization, and culture at Amazon.”
