AfroTech logo and headshots of  Dela Agbemabiese, Justin Barry, Nashlie Sephus and Colby Wise.
With AfroTech World occurring this week, we asked some of the company's Black scientists what they consider some of the systemic issues limiting underrepresented minorities from being more involved in the technology industry. We heard from Dela Agbemabiese (lower left), a data scientist, Justin Barry (upper left), applied scientist, Nashlie Sephus (upper right), applied science manager, and Colby Wise (lower right), senior deep learning scientist.
Credit: Glynis Condon

Issues of racial, ethnic and gender diversity are on the agenda at AfroTech World

Amazon scientists provide insights on issues related to lack of involvement of underrepresented minorities in the technology industry.

As CNBC reported earlier this year, six years after initially disclosing diversity reports, major technology companies have made little progress in hiring more minorities, especially Black employees with science and technology skills.

This presents a series of ongoing challenges. According the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), nearly one-quarter of the country’s total economic output is produced by high-tech industries, and in 2017 BLS projected there would be more than 1 million job openings in computer and information technology over the next 10 years. Moreover, computing occupation salaries are more than twice the median wage for all other occupations, according to BLS.

“When we look at tech and its impact on our economy, and the simultaneous underrepresentation of the Black community, it is a critically important racial and economic justice issue," says Allison Scott, CEO of the Kapor Center. “When the tech workforce and leadership reflects the diverse experiences and backgrounds of our nation, I believe tech can begin to play an integral role in addressing long-standing disparities that exist in this country.”

As of December 31, 2019, Amazon reported that 26.5% of its global workforce identifies as Black/African American, 26.5% Asian, 18.5% Hispanic/Latinx, 1.3% as Native American, and 3.6% as two or more races.  The 26.5% of employees who identify as Black/African American work in both non-technical and technical roles.

This week at AfroTech World, issues related to the lack of adequate racial, ethnic, and gender diversity within the technology industry are on the agenda as leaders in technology and business come together to exchange ideas for creating greater opportunity for Blacks in technology.  Amazon is a Diamond Sponsor of this year’s event, and has a virtual recruiting booth.  

On Nov. 13, the company is hosting a virtual event, “Our Voices, Our Power”, presented by Amazon’s Black Employee Network (BEN) affinity group. Attendees will hear employees share their Amazon journey stories, learn about career opportunities, and enjoy entertainment.

In advance of AfroTech, Amazon Science asked some of the company’s Black scientists what they consider some of the systemic issues limiting underrepresented minorities’ involvement in the technology industry, about some of the issues they have had to overcome in pursuing their science careers, who or what inspired them to pursue their science careers, and what lessons we might take from their individual experiences. 

Dela Agbemabiese is a data scientist within Amazon’s advertising organization. He earned his master’s degree in business administration from Drexel University.

Dela Agbemabiese
Dela Agbemabiese

What do you consider some of the systemic issues limiting underrepresented minorities from greater employment opportunities in the technology industry?

Lack of financial resources to stimulate curiosity in tech, lack of mentors or heroes to look up to due to low representation, and societal prejudice hindering opportunities.

Lack of financial resources to stimulate curiosity in tech. I have been fortunate and blessed my entire life.  All gratitude goes to my parents. I was born in Ghana, West Africa. My mom was a nurse, and my dad an economist. Due to the nature of my dad’s work, I got the opportunity to travel a lot as a kid, got enrolled into a course at eight years old to get a Linux command line certificate, and always had access to tech resources. My parents sacrificed to ensure I attended the best schools, and there is not a single thing I ever asked for that I did not get. This may not be the case for all children, whose parents are possibly working hard doing multiple jobs, and in some cases are single parents. If the financial resources I had were similar to that of many minority children, it would be unlikely for me to be where I am today.

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Lack of mentors or heroes to look up to due to low representation. While my dad was heavy on econometrics and I learned a thing or two from him, it was my cousin Martey to whom I looked up. He was brilliant academically, and I always wanted to be like him. He tutored me in math and physics, thus giving me an edge over my classmates. Martey was not my only mentor, in fact, I had many, including Yao Obeng, who helped me nurture my creativity and problem-solving skills. Many minority children may not have mentors or heroes within tech to encourage and inspire interest in tech-related careers. If I did not have these mentors to motivate me, it would be unlikely for me to be where I am today.

Societal prejudice hindering opportunities. Growing up in Ghana, prejudice did not exist from a racial standpoint. Once I moved to the United States for my undergraduate degree, this became a reality. My minority friends and I have had to work twice as hard as our peers to prove we are as good as our credentials. We strived to invalidate stereotypes about minorities through the quality of our work and our work ethic. With everything I do, in the back of my mind I am thinking about how my actions or inactions affect the perception towards minorities: am I enabling some of these unfounded prejudices? Or am I, through my work, educating my peers and superiors? For me, this societal prejudice only began when I came to the United States for my undergraduate degree, but imagine the minority children out there who have had to live with this their entire lives. It sure can get demoralizing.

What are some of the obstacles you had to overcome in pursuing your science career?

Societal prejudice hindering opportunities. I have been lucky to have managers and peers that are inclusive and open-minded, that judge me based on the quality of my work. Rachel McKitrick was my first manager in Amazon. I joined Amazon as a business analyst, despite my previous role as a senior data scientist. I just wanted to join Amazon! Rachel knew my business analyst role was not ideal, and gave me projects that were science oriented, which ultimately enabled my transition to scientist. My second manager, Monica Wu, always made herself available to chat and made me feel like my voice and opinion mattered. My current team managed by Dauwe Vercamer and Andrew Petschek welcomed me with open arms, gave me opportunities to shine and lead within the team. They provide direct feedback that has made me a much better scientist today.

I have had the privilege of learning from a lot of people. Societal prejudice may be harder to solve for, but I believe a good place to start will be to find means for minority youth to gain access to some of the brilliant minds within the technology industry, be it through some virtual teaching programs, or through some mentoring programs. The prejudice may exist, the financial resources may be sparse or non-existent, but with heroes and mentors to look up to, a child’s imagination can be sparked for what could be.

Who or what inspired you to pursue your science career, and what lessons can we take from your experience?

My dad due to his econometrics background, and my childhood mentors who encouraged me to put math and science ahead of basketball and soccer. Since then, I have had lots of mentors along the way, especially here at Amazon. Individuals such as Leo Razoumov, Pranjal Mallick, Amy Ruschak, John Lafayette, and Oded Netzer, who have helped shape me into a better scientist.

My advice to Black students interested in a STEM career, or other Black scientists is to find mentors, and get them involved in your work. Meet with them once a week for even 10 minutes, and let them influence your work.

Justin Barry is an applied scientist with Amazon’s Prime Video organization. He earned his master’s degree in computer science from the University of Central Florida.

Justin Barry
Justin Barry

What do you consider some of the systemic issues limiting underrepresented minorities from greater employment opportunities in the technology industry?

This is a massive topic with a myriad of associated socioeconomic issues. One issue that jumps to the forefront for me is the schools where leading companies within the tech industry recruit from. Traditionally, these companies have limited their recruitment to top universities where Blacks and other underrepresented minorities comprise a small percentage of the student population. This is beginning to change, but I believe technology companies need to more aggressively expand their recruitment efforts, especially among historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

What are some of the obstacles you had to overcome in pursuing your science career?

One issue is imposter syndrome — the idea that you're not good enough and you’re only in your position because you’ve been given special treatment. Although imposter syndrome is something everyone experiences, I think it’s particularly acute for Blacks given the clear underrepresentation within the technology industry. Imposter syndrome can touch all aspects of your job if you’re unaware, or if you don’t have the tools to deal with it. Not everyone has the tools to deal with it, and I suspect not everyone has correctly identified the problem.

Who or what inspired you to pursue your science career, and what lessons can we take from your experience?

Video games sparked my interest in computer science, and more specifically artificial intelligence. My undergraduate degree is in computer science and math, and machine learning and AI provide the opportunity to apply my computer science and math skills to real-world applications.

Nashlie Sephus is an applied science manager within Amazon Web Services Ai. She earned her PhD in electrical and computer engineering from Georgia Tech.

Nashlie Sephus
Nashlie Sephus

What do you consider some of the systemic issues limiting underrepresented minorities from greater employment opportunities in the technology industry?

Imposter syndrome is one issue I find common within underrepresented minority groups. It’s a feeling of being convinced that you don’t belong in the industry, or within advanced roles in the industry, regardless of your accolades and accomplishments. It is as if they are not real or didn’t happen. This is often due to not seeing many others who look like you in similar or higher positions. ‘You can’t be what you can’t see’ is a common thought. Also, there are few mentors or support systems for these groups, and as a black/female/engineer/scientist, you sometimes feel like the minority of the minority, which further isolates you.  

What are some of the obstacles you had to overcome in pursuing your science career?

At times, I have had to fight for myself and members of my teams for equal pay and advancement in my career. I also have needed to develop mechanisms to be heard when it was difficult to convey messages to those around me. I’m usually quiet and reserved, but over the years I’ve learned how to gain respect from peers by being more outspoken even, or especially, when I disagreed. This is one reason why I appreciate Amazon’s leadership principle: Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit. 

Who or what inspired you to pursue your science career, and what lessons can we take from your experience?

I grew up in a house full of women where we often did our own chores, like fixing and repairing things around the house. I was also always going to summer math and science camps in elementary and middle school, especially a summer engineering camp for girls after my eighth grade science teacher recommended I attend. This was when I was first introduced to the various areas of engineering, and fell in love with computer science. Being able to control the hardware with software was fascinating to me. I knew then that’s what I wanted to do. This early exposure to science was key to me figuring out one of my passions, in addition to music and sports.

Colby Wise is a senior deep learning scientist and manager within the AWS Machine Learning Solutions Lab. He earned his master’s degree in computer science from the Columbia University Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Colby Wise
Colby Wise

What do you consider some of the systemic issues limiting underrepresented minorities from greater employment opportunities in the technology industry?

Educational opportunity. Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers in the technology industry are highly competitive. Over the years, we’ve seen advanced tools and technologies like cloud technology, machine learning, and deep learning, that were once reserved only for large companies or prestigious universities being utilized by students as early as junior high school. While this has created and accelerated educational opportunities for millions of students globally, the reality is that not all have been able to benefit. In the United States, public school funding varies significantly by geography, and where you grow up is a major factor in access to educational resources. Schools with advanced STEM courses and other after-school programs are valuable inroads for STEM students to accelerate their learning opportunities and explore careers in science. What’s more, these opportunities compound positively from lower educational levels to higher educational levels. While not the only factor, these programs are important when understanding the pipeline of underrepresented minorities in highly competitive industries like technology. For example, the US Federal Reserve conducted a study highlighting how educational attainment of parents plays an important role in children’s educational pursuits. Studies like this and others indicate that lower parental educational attainment may present a unique challenge for students. One potential consequence of underrepresentation of minorities in advanced degrees is that employment opportunities often arise from one’s social network, employee referrals, for example. This can be summarized as both an employment funnel problem and a network problem. While not always the case, a more diverse workforce can build connections to underrepresented talent pools. 

Financial equality. In a study from 2020, the US Federal Reserve found large and persistent gaps in net wealth and earnings by race and ethnicity. While education is a significant factor in wage gaps, the St. Louis Federal Reserve found net wealth by race was not as positively correlated with educational attainment for minorities. Educational attainment is extremely important. Many highly technical roles require advanced degrees. Financial equality and opportunity as characterized by job salary prospects, current income and net wealth, and access to educational funding sources like loans are all potential factors impacting lower minority employment. In 2016, the Brookings Institution found the median household net wealth for Black and Hispanic families to be 1/8th  that of white households. When you consider the rising cost of college and advanced degrees, this income and net wealth gap may also play a factor in why employment among underrepresented minorities is lower in highly competitive industries like technology. Specifically, minorities whose households cannot readily pay for advanced degrees choose between the implications of high debt burdens and lower comparative earnings, and often must forsake advanced degrees to enter or stay in the workforce.

Leadership representation. Representation of minorities in leadership positions is relatively low. It is unclear how much educational opportunity and financial equality contribute to this, compared to other issues such as equitable pathways to senior leadership positions. In many companies in which I have worked, you notice a similar triangular pattern of minority leadership where representation at junior levels is more in-line with industry trends, while there is a dearth of representation as you reach more senior positions. No doubt there is work to be done to drive greater employment of underrepresented minorities at all levels. But simply increasing the representation at entry levels does not address other attrition and talent-retention hurdles. Overall, companies need to take a more systematic, data-driven approach to move the needle and find solutions to underrepresentation of minorities in the tech industry. For instance, companies should not be afraid to tackle the complex issues at multiple hierarchies, such as creating innovative solutions to drive educational opportunity while objectively measuring current pathways to employment within the tech industry. Furthermore, companies should ensure financial equality by aligning corporate incentives with fair pay distributions, minority leadership representation, and talent development and retention.  

What are some of the obstacles you had to overcome in pursuing your science career?

Educational opportunity. While everyone’s path is different, unfortunately my story is rather common given its similarity to those of many underrepresented minorities. I faced and overcame obstacles in educational and financial opportunity plus roadblocks to leadership roles. I attribute my luck mainly to the many individuals who provided a helping hand, plus a little bit of hard work sprinkled in. I grew up in a single-parent household in an impoverished, high-crime inner-city area. Despite this, my family valued education highly, and one of my parents had an advanced degree which was extremely rare for the area. Given that, I always ranked in the top 1% in my coursework while very young. That said, district educational attainment rates were low, and advanced coursework or programs for gifted students were nonexistent. However, prior to high school an unfortunate family event led to me moving from one of the poorest areas in the country to one of the best school districts nationally. After discovering how far behind I was in math and science, my family and I worked extremely hard over several years to get me back in line with my expected academic grade level. Now fast-forwarding to college: I, like many other minorities, did not have the means to pay for college, nor easy access to loans. After being selected to a number of great schools, my decision was ultimately driven by the amount of money I received in scholarships and grants. During college I followed the same recipe for success: tons of luck, humility to ask for help, and a bit of hard work to land an internship as a sophomore at a prestigious Wall Street investment bank. There I was surrounded by some of the smartest minds in STEM, with many having achieved advanced degrees from top universities around the world. The vast majority of these individuals did not look like me. Desperately wanting to be accepted and succeed among my peers in industry is what drove me to pursue a career in science, and many years later brought me to AWS.

Who or what inspired you to pursue your science career, and what lessons can we take from your experience?

Family and friends. Ultimately, doing what you love and constantly learning while being curious is the greatest inspiration one needs to pursue a career in science. As discussed above, studies have shown a correlation between parental educational attainment and children’s attainment. Thinking forward a bit, I combined my passion for what I love in science — AI/ML — with a selfish goal of wanting to be a living model for a career in science for my children. My greatest inspiration, however, is my wife. She discovered her passion for science at a very young age with plentiful opportunities to explore that passion, ultimately helping her reach the pinnacles of academia, where she received undergraduate and graduate degrees from two of the top universities in the world. Her passion for science, hard work, and humility continue to inspire me on a daily basis.

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The Amazon Center for Quantum Computing (CQC) is a multi-disciplinary team of scientists, engineers, and technicians, all working to innovate in quantum computing for the benefit of our customers. We are looking to hire an Applied Scientist to design and model novel superconducting quantum devices (including qubits), readout and control schemes, and advanced quantum processors. The ideal candidate will have a track record of original scientific contributions, strong engineering principles, and/or software development experience. Resourcefulness, as well as strong organizational and communication skills, is essential. About the team About the team The Amazon Center for Quantum Computing (CQC) is a multi-disciplinary team of scientists, engineers, and technicians, on a mission to develop a fault-tolerant quantum computer. Inclusive Team Culture Here at Amazon, it’s in our nature to learn and be curious. Our employee-led affinity groups foster a culture of inclusion that empower us to be proud of our differences. Ongoing events and learning experiences, including our Conversations on Race and Ethnicity (CORE) and AmazeCon conferences, inspire us to never stop embracing our uniqueness. Diverse Experiences Amazon values diverse experiences. Even if you do not meet all of the preferred qualifications and skills listed in the job description, we encourage candidates to apply. If your career is just starting, hasn’t followed a traditional path, or includes alternative experiences, don’t let it stop you from applying. Mentorship & Career Growth We’re continuously raising our performance bar as we strive to become Earth’s Best Employer. That’s why you’ll find endless knowledge-sharing, mentorship and other career-advancing resources here to help you develop into a better-rounded professional. Work/Life Balance We value work-life harmony. Achieving success at work should never come at the expense of sacrifices at home, which is why we strive for flexibility as part of our working culture. When we feel supported in the workplace and at home, there’s nothing we can’t achieve in the cloud. Export Control Requirement Due to applicable export control laws and regulations, candidates must be either a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum, or be able to obtain a US export license. If you are unsure if you meet these requirements, please apply and Amazon will review your application for eligibility. Export Control Requirement: Due to applicable export control laws and regulations, candidates must be either a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum, or be able to obtain a U.S export license. If you are unsure if you meet these requirements, please apply and Amazon will review your application for eligibility.
US, CA, Sunnyvale
Amazon Industrial Robotics Group is seeking exceptional talent to help develop the next generation of advanced robotics systems that will transform automation at Amazon's scale. We're building revolutionary robotic systems that combine innovative AI, sophisticated control systems, and advanced mechanical design to create adaptable automation solutions capable of working safely alongside humans in dynamic environments. This is a unique opportunity to shape the future of robotics and automation at unprecedented scale, working with world-class teams pushing the boundaries of what's possible in robotic manipulation, locomotion, and human-robot interaction. This role presents an opportunity to shape the future of robotics through innovative applications of deep learning and large language models. We leverage advanced robotics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to solve complex operational challenges at unprecedented scale. Our fleet of robots operates across hundreds of facilities worldwide, working in sophisticated coordination to fulfill our mission of customer excellence. We are pioneering the development of robotics foundation models that: - Enable unprecedented generalization across diverse tasks - Integrate multi-modal learning capabilities (visual, tactile, linguistic) - Accelerate skill acquisition through demonstration learning - Enhance robotic perception and environmental understanding - Streamline development processes through reusable capabilities The ideal candidate will contribute to research that bridges the gap between theoretical advancement and practical implementation in robotics. You will be part of a team that's revolutionizing how robots learn, adapt, and interact with their environment. Join us in building the next generation of intelligent robotics systems that will transform the future of automation and human-robot collaboration. As a Senior Applied Scientist, you will lead the development of machine learning systems that help robots perceive, reason, and act in real-world environments. You will set technical direction for adapting and advancing state-of-the-art models (open source and internal research) into robust, safe, and high-performing “robot brain” capabilities for our target tasks, environments, and robot embodiments. You will drive rigorous capability profiling and experimentation, lead targeted innovation where gaps exist, and partner across research, controls, hardware, and product teams to ensure outputs can be further customized and deployed on specific robots. Key job responsibilities - Lead technical initiatives for foundation-model capabilities (e.g., visuomotor / VLA / video-action worldmodel-action policies), from problem definition through validated model deliverables. - Own model readiness for our embodiment class: drive adaptation, fine-tuning, and optimization (latency/throughput/robustness), and define success criteria that downstream teams can build on. - Establish and evolve capability evaluation: define benchmark strategy, metrics, and profiling methodology to quantify performance, generalization, and failure modes; ensure evaluations drive clear roadmap decisions. - Drive the data + training strategy needed to close key capability gaps, including data requirements, collection/curation standards, dataset quality/provenance, and repeatable training recipes (sim + real). - Invent and validate new methods when leveraging SOTA is insufficient—new training schemes, model components, supervision signals, or sim↔real techniques—backed by strong empirical evidence. - Influence cross-team technical decisions by collaborating with controls/WBC, hardware, and product teams on interfaces, constraints, and integration plans; communicate results via design docs and technical reviews. - Mentor and raise the bar: guide junior scientists/engineers, set best practices for experimentation and code quality, and drive a culture of rigor and reproducibility.
US, CA, Sunnyvale
Amazon Industrial Robotics Group is seeking exceptional talent to help develop the next generation of advanced robotics systems that will transform automation at Amazon's scale. We're building revolutionary robotic systems that combine innovative AI, sophisticated control systems, and advanced mechanical design to create adaptable automation solutions capable of working safely alongside humans in dynamic environments. This is a unique opportunity to shape the future of robotics and automation at unprecedented scale, working with world-class teams pushing the boundaries of what's possible in robotic manipulation, locomotion, and human-robot interaction. This role presents an opportunity to shape the future of robotics through innovative applications of deep learning and large language models. We leverage advanced robotics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to solve complex operational challenges at unprecedented scale. Our fleet of robots operates across hundreds of facilities worldwide, working in sophisticated coordination to fulfill our mission of customer excellence. We are pioneering the development of robotics foundation models that: - Enable unprecedented generalization across diverse tasks - Integrate multi-modal learning capabilities (visual, tactile, linguistic) - Accelerate skill acquisition through demonstration learning - Enhance robotic perception and environmental understanding - Streamline development processes through reusable capabilities The ideal candidate will contribute to research that bridges the gap between theoretical advancement and practical implementation in robotics. You will be part of a team that's revolutionizing how robots learn, adapt, and interact with their environment. Join us in building the next generation of intelligent robotics systems that will transform the future of automation and human-robot collaboration. As a Senior Applied Scientist, you will lead the development of machine learning systems that help robots perceive, reason, and act in real-world environments. You will set technical direction for adapting and advancing state-of-the-art models (open source and internal research) into robust, safe, and high-performing “robot brain” capabilities for our target tasks, environments, and robot embodiments. You will drive rigorous capability profiling and experimentation, lead targeted innovation where gaps exist, and partner across research, controls, hardware, and product teams to ensure outputs can be further customized and deployed on specific robots. Key job responsibilities - Lead technical initiatives for foundation-model capabilities (e.g., visuomotor / VLA / video-action worldmodel-action policies), from problem definition through validated model deliverables. - Own model readiness for our embodiment class: drive adaptation, fine-tuning, and optimization (latency/throughput/robustness), and define success criteria that downstream teams can build on. - Establish and evolve capability evaluation: define benchmark strategy, metrics, and profiling methodology to quantify performance, generalization, and failure modes; ensure evaluations drive clear roadmap decisions. - Drive the data + training strategy needed to close key capability gaps, including data requirements, collection/curation standards, dataset quality/provenance, and repeatable training recipes (sim + real). - Invent and validate new methods when leveraging SOTA is insufficient—new training schemes, model components, supervision signals, or sim↔real techniques—backed by strong empirical evidence. - Influence cross-team technical decisions by collaborating with controls/WBC, hardware, and product teams on interfaces, constraints, and integration plans; communicate results via design docs and technical reviews. - Mentor and raise the bar: guide junior scientists/engineers, set best practices for experimentation and code quality, and drive a culture of rigor and reproducibility.
US, WA, Seattle
We are looking for a passionate Applied Scientist to help pioneer the next generation of agentic AI applications for Amazon advertisers. In this role, you will design agentic architectures, develop tools and datasets, and contribute to building systems that can reason, plan, and act autonomously across complex advertiser workflows. You will work at the forefront of applied AI, developing methods for fine-tuning, reinforcement learning, and preference optimization, while helping create evaluation frameworks that ensure safety, reliability, and trust at scale. You will work backwards from the needs of advertisers—delivering customer-facing products that directly help them create, optimize, and grow their campaigns. Beyond building models, you will advance the agent ecosystem by experimenting with and applying core primitives such as tool orchestration, multi-step reasoning, and adaptive preference-driven behavior. This role requires working independently on ambiguous technical problems, collaborating closely with scientists, engineers, and product managers to bring innovative solutions into production. Key job responsibilities - Design and build agents to guide advertisers in conversational and non-conversational experience. - Design and implement advanced model and agent optimization techniques, including supervised fine-tuning, instruction tuning and preference optimization (e.g., DPO/IPO). - Curate datasets and tools for MCP. - Build evaluation pipelines for agent workflows, including automated benchmarks, multi-step reasoning tests, and safety guardrails. - Develop agentic architectures (e.g., CoT, ToT, ReAct) that integrate planning, tool use, and long-horizon reasoning. - Prototype and iterate on multi-agent orchestration frameworks and workflows. - Collaborate with peers across engineering and product to bring scientific innovations into production. - Stay current with the latest research in LLMs, RL, and agent-based AI, and translate findings into practical applications. About the team The Sponsored Products and Brands team at Amazon Ads is re-imagining the advertising landscape through the latest generative AI technologies, revolutionizing how millions of customers discover products and engage with brands across Amazon.com and beyond. We are at the forefront of re-inventing advertising experiences, bridging human creativity with artificial intelligence to transform every aspect of the advertising lifecycle from ad creation and optimization to performance analysis and customer insights. We are a passionate group of innovators dedicated to developing responsible and intelligent AI technologies that balance the needs of advertisers, enhance the shopping experience, and strengthen the marketplace. If you're energized by solving complex challenges and pushing the boundaries of what's possible with AI, join us in shaping the future of advertising. The Campaign Strategies team within Sponsored Products and Brands is focused on guiding and supporting 1.6MM advertisers to meet their advertising needs of creating and managing ad campaigns. At this scale, the complexity of diverse advertiser goals, campaign types, and market dynamics creates both a massive technical challenge and a transformative opportunity: even small improvements in guidance systems can have outsized impact on advertiser success and Amazon’s retail ecosystem. Our vision is to build a highly personalized, context-aware agentic advertiser guidance system that leverages LLMs together with tools such as auction simulations, ML models, and optimization algorithms. This agentic framework, will operate across both chat and non-chat experiences in the ad console, scaling to natural language queries as well as proactively delivering guidance based on deep understanding of the advertiser. To execute this vision, we collaborate closely with stakeholders across Ad Console, Sales, and Marketing to identify opportunities—from high-level product guidance down to granular keyword recommendations—and deliver them through a tailored, personalized experience. Our work is grounded in state-of-the-art agent architectures, tool integration, reasoning frameworks, and model customization approaches (including tuning, MCP, and preference optimization), ensuring our systems are both scalable and adaptive.