What Does This Have to Do With Selling Books?

Adam Selipsky's Inaugural AWS re:Invent Keynote

Adam Selipsky delivered his first keynote address at AWS re:Invent this morning, following his appointment as CEO succeeding Andy Jassy earlier in the year. He faced considerable expectations, yet was not unfamiliar with the AWS organization. Having been involved with the division since its inception, he assisted Jassy in its development into a significant enterprise, before departing in 2016 to lead Tableau.

A Historical Perspective

Selipsky initiated his presentation with a recounting of AWS’s history, a narrative he could personally attest to, having been present when the company first launched in Seattle. The initial concept – offering web services – was largely unproven.

Early presentations of the cloud infrastructure idea to prospective clients were met with confusion. Selipsky frequently encountered the question: “How does this relate to book sales?”

The Core of Amazon's Vision

While Selipsky did not reveal his response at the time, it’s reasonable to suggest the connection wasn’t direct. Similar discussions were recalled by Amazon CTO Werner Vogels in a prior presentation. Amazon’s primary focus wasn’t product sales, but rather the construction of a scalable web-based business.

The leading cloud infrastructure providers – Amazon, Microsoft, and Google – all excel at building and managing large-scale operations, with data center management being a crucial component. In retrospect, it appears logical that a bookseller pioneered the concept of selling infrastructure services, though this wasn’t apparent initially.

The Early Days of Cloud Computing

In 2005, the term “cloud” lacked widespread understanding. The author first encountered the concept around 2008 at a Web 2.0 conference in Boston. Representatives from Amazon, Google, and Salesforce jointly presented an explanation of the cloud and its significance.

The presentation was met with skepticism from IT professionals, who were reluctant to entrust their company data to a bookseller. However, this resistance eventually subsided.

Selipsky's Initial Reaction

Even Selipsky initially struggled to grasp the full implications of the idea. As he recently shared with Bloomberg’s Emily Chang, the initial proposition was described as: “We are going to expose the internal workings of Amazon to external parties.” He admitted he didn’t immediately comprehend the scope of this undertaking.

The Genesis of the Idea

According to a 2016 TechCrunch article featuring Andy Jassy, the concept originated during a brainstorming session in 2003.

Ultimately, they acted on this idea, as explained to Selipsky during his recruitment in 2005. They essentially repurposed the core components of their online bookstore and offered them as a service to customers. While seemingly unrelated to book sales, this innovation has evolved into a $60 billion business.