Andy Jassy Hasn’t Evolved Amazon Culture, He Dismantled It

Andy Jassy’s leadership deserves real scrutiny. Since he took over in 2021, Amazon’s performance has largely tracked broader tech indices like the NASDAQ-100. There’s zero signal of standout execution. AWS growth has slowed materially from ~30%+ pre-2022 to low double digits, which matters given it drives most of the profit. But the bigger issue is cultural. Jassy has led the charge to dismantle what made Amazon distinct. The leadership principles used to be real operating constraints; now they’re often retrofitted to justify decisions after the fact. The shift toward centralized control, repeated layoffs, and efficiency-first thinking reflects an MBA-style model with little focus on people or maintaining a coherent culture. At the same time, Amazon’s AI push looks reactive relative to peers, with fewer breakout offerings and weaker developer pull. The result is a company that’s still financially strong, but one where the culture that drove its success has been actively eroded.