AI agents will reduce workforce but transform CX, says Amazon’s CEO

In an honest message to employees this week, Amazon’s CEO Andy Jassy laid out a vision where generative artificial intelligence (AI) agents will reduce the workforce but deliver a truly game-changing customer experience (CX). His memo from June 17, 2025, points to a future where AI handles the routine stuff, freeing up our human colleagues to focus on the more complex and strategic parts of customer interaction.

"As we roll out more generative AI and agents, it should change the way our work is done. We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today. More people doing other types of jobs." He admitted it's tough to nail down the exact long-term impact. Still, he fully expects this to "reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company" over the next few years.

A "once-in-a-lifetime" CX game changer

Jassy described generative AI as a "once-in-a-lifetime" technology, fundamentally changing what's possible for both customers and businesses. Amazon's huge investment in this area is already showing real results, especially in how they connect with customers.

For example, Alexa+, Amazon's next-generation personal assistant, can do far more than just answer questions. It can now take significant actions for customers. Also, the AI shopping assistant is already helping tens of millions of people worldwide discover products and make smarter buying choices. New shopping features like "Lens" (where you can search for products just by snapping a picture), "Buy for Me" (asking the agent to buy something from another website) and "Recommended Size" (using AI to predict the perfect fit for clothes) all show a clear push to make shopping personal and effortless.

Beyond direct customer interactions, independent sellers are also getting a boost from AI tools that simplify creating product pages and optimize their selling strategies, leading to "measurably better" listings. Even Amazon's advertising side has seen over 50,000 advertisers use AI tools in the first quarter to plan and optimize their campaigns.

Smarter internal operations for better CX

The influence of generative AI runs deep within Amazon's own operations, directly impacting CX. Jassy pointed to its use in their fulfillment network to fine-tune inventory, improve demand forecasting and make their robots more efficient. All these behind-the-scenes improvements lead to lower costs and faster delivery times 

The agentic future

At the heart of Jassy's message is the idea of AI agents – those clever software systems that use AI to handle tasks for us or other systems. He predicts billions of these agents will pop up across every industry, automating everything from research and coding to spotting anomalies and translating languages. For Amazon, this "agentic future" promises a huge leap in how fast they can innovate.

"Agents will allow us to start almost everything from a more advanced starting point," Jassy explained. He envisions a future where employees spend less time on repetitive tasks and more on strategically improving and inventing brand new customer experiences. These agents will be like "teammates," growing "wiser and more helpful with more experience."

Running like the "world's largest start-up”

Jassy reiterated Amazon's drive to operate like "the world’s largest start-up – customer-obsessed, inventive, fast-moving, lean, scrappy and full of missionaries." He sees AI as a powerful force in achieving this agility, helping them move faster, take more ownership and invent more easily. With over 1,000 generative AI services and applications already either in progress or built, Amazon is just at the "relative beginning" of its AI journey, with plans to "lean in further in the coming months."

"Those who embrace this change, become conversant in AI, help us build and improve our AI capabilities internally and deliver for customers, will be well-positioned to have high impact and help us reinvent the company," he advised employees.

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