Is Amazon the new Cisco?

Patterns in technology tend to eventually repeat themselves (or at least rhyme), and Amazon is beginning to repeat some of the patterns of Cisco from the early 2000s 

SHOW: 972

SHOW TRANSCRIPT: The Cloudcast #972 Transcript

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SHOW NOTES:

• Staying nimble and continuing to strengthen our organization (Amazon, Oct 2025)
• Strengthening our culture and teams (Amazon, Sept 2024)
• Amazon Leadership Principles

WHERE ARE THE BIGGEST AI RISKS?

• Significant changes from one industry era to the next (Internet to SaaS, Cloud to AI)
• Once dominant position in a market now appears less dominant (Worth more than next 20 competitors; 7yr head start)
• Guiding cultural principles well-known within the company - start adding more and more to them
• Employee motivation driving by stock price as much as work activities
• Culture evolves and erodes over time as the business changes and evolves - it’s nearly impossible to reset the company culture
• Companies can rebound from being lost in the woods, but it’s very, very difficult
• Death by 1000 cuts in a virtuous cycle - employees are constantly more worried about job status than project status - the perception of who gets to make mistakes and who is responsible for mistakes

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