Amazon has confirmed Adam Selipsky’s departure from his role as CEO of Amazon Web Services (AWS).
In a blog post following an internal memo by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, Matt Garman was announced as the new chief effective June 3.
Garman, who joined AWS officially in 2006 after a few months of internship, has been heading up Sales, Marketing and Global Services since 2020.
AWS gets a (not so) new CEO
The move isn’t surprising – Selipsky, who was re-hired by Amazon in May 2021 as AWS CEO, agreed to take on the role on the basis that he would be preparing the business for a new generation of leadership.
Selipsky, who moved over from a five-and-a-half-year stint as Tableau CEO, spent 11 years at AWS between 2005 and 2016.
Jassy summarized Garman’s suitability for the role: “Matt has an unusually strong set of skills and experiences for his new role. 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.”
In his letter, Jassy also praised Selipsky’s leadership during his time at AWS, acknowledging his efforts in navigating challenges such as those thrown at him during the pandemic.
Under his guidance, Amazon Web Services recorded $25 billion in revenue in its most recent quarter, which marked a considerable 17% year-on-year increase.
Looking ahead, Garman’s left a cloud of uncertainty for AWS workers in the memo, noting that “there will naturally be some organizational adjustments that we will make as part of this transition, so look for details on those in the coming weeks.”