strAIght talk: AI tips for Amazonians

Epizode

• A rough idea + AI became Kate Spade's concierge — here's how 15.06.2026 13min

  One team at AWS used AI at every step to build Kate Spade’s AI "gift concierge" — a shopping assistant that asks customers what they need and narrows options through conversation. On this episode, David Dorf shares how they went from concept to live product in 12 weeks. His biggest tip: you don't need a perfect idea. Keep a backlog, present a rough one to AI, and let it research and refine until you pick up momentum.  Guest: David Dorf, Global Head of Retail Industry Solutions, AWS 
• Don't scrap it, ask it why: How one marketer made five AI agents reliable. 08.06.2026 15min

  "I built an agent... now what?" Orlando O'Neill built five custom AI agents for his marketing work. On this episode, he shares how he makes them reliable: asking agents to diagnose their own mistakes, fixing issues permanently with steering files, and running weekly reviews to improve them over time. His biggest tip: when your agent gets something wrong, don't scrap it. Ask it why, and fix it together.  Guest: Orlando O'Neill, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Alexa Marketing 
• Cortex Kickstart asked her one question, then built four AI agents 01.06.2026 12min

  Jackie Pizaña wanted AI to do more than summarize documents. Using an internal guided workflow called Cortex Kickstart, she built four AI agents that track commitments, flag escalations, prep coaching materials, and orient her week. Her biggest tip: lean into one tool, learn it well, and let your confidence build from there.Guest: Jackie Pizana, Senior Manager, Operations Field Talent Acquisition
• 8 weeks, no roadmap, and a 50% chance of success. Here's how Kiro helped this PM deliver. 26.05.2026 12min

  Eight weeks, no roadmap, and a 50/50 shot. Vedran Brozovic shares how he used AI to find the right data, generate technical requirements, and build an hourly forecasting system in weeks—not months. His biggest tip: ask AI questions like you'd ask a colleague, not a search engine.  Guest: Vedran Brozovic, Product Manager, Automated Profitability Management
• Describe your problem, Amazon Quick builds the fix—try these skills today 20.05.2026 13min

  Spending your mornings triaging emails and rewriting the same docs? Eric Johnson shares how he uses Quick to turn everyday pain points into automated workflows. Just describe your problem, and Quick’s desktop app builds the solution for you.Guest: Eric Johnson, Principal Developer Advocate, AWS
• Not a developer? You can still build real solutions — here's how 12.05.2026 17min

  You've got the idea. A tracker, a dashboard, a tool that would save your team hours. You just can't code it. Or can you? Two Amazonians share how to go from ideas to working prototypes using agentic coding tools. The secret? You don't need to know code; you need to know how to communicate.Guests: Alex Neier, Software Builder Experience (ASBX) & Curtis Morton, AWS Training and Certification
• Your AI questions, answered—with a little help from Alexa 27.04.2026 21min

  Host Alex Kalish gets a little help from a very special co-host, Alexa, who steps in to ask the questions while Alex tackles your toughest listener submissions head-on. The throughline? Context is king, and Alex's five-step framework will change the way you think about AI.Guest: Alexa, Amazon’s cloud-based voice service available on hundreds of millions of devices from Amazon and third-party device manufacturers.
• You're probably using AI like a search engine—here's how to make it your work partner 13.04.2026 15min

  Stop treating AI like a tool. Start treating it like a partner. Regional Director in Amazon Logistics shares how he transformed his relationship with AI from task assistant to strategic partner and the simple habit that made all the difference. His breakthrough: stop asking AI to complete tasks and start having conversations with it like you would with a colleague.Guest: Joe Hoeksema, Regional Director, Amazon Logistics
• This PM used AI as a career coach—his tips for you to earn new opportunities 30.03.2026 16min

  Want to think more strategically and accelerate your career growth? Program Manager with Amazon's GoAI team, shares how he uses AI as a personal career coach to prepare for high-stakes meetings, build advocates, and shift from tactical execution to strategic thinking. His approach: create a context document with your role, goals, and priorities, then use AI to help you see what you're missing.Guest: Chris Meriwether, Program Manager
• One prompt manages emails and slack—here's what it is 23.03.2026 10min

  Senior Manager AI/ML Specialist from AWS closes all his apps and does everything through AI for one day. The result? Events planned in minutes instead of hours, and a completely new way of working. Ahmed Raafat shares his "napkin test" and the daily prompt that keeps him focused on what matters. Listen to discover how the GenAI Day technique can work for you.Guest: Ahmed Raafat, Senior Manager, AWS
• 16-year Amazonian shares the AI technique he's adopting to build faster 09.03.2026 12min

  Principal Software Engineer shares how he went from AI skeptic to AI evangelist — and the exact technique that changed his mind. Learn about the prompt-driven development technique that made AI an indispensable partner for building faster.Guest: James Hood, Principal Software EngineerNote: Some tools, resources, and internal references discussed in this podcast may only be accessible to Amazon employees.Disclaimer: The views, techniques, and tool preferences shared in this podcast represent the personal experiences and opinions of the host and guests. Always follow your organization's security and compliance guidelines when implementing AI solutions.
• Try this research prompt framework to get sharper, more useful analysis from AI 06.03.2026 12min

  Hosted by Alex Kalish, Product Manager - Technical at Amazon. Produced by Amazon's Internal Corporate Communications and Employee Experience Communications teams.
• Want faster AI results? You need to try meta-prompting 06.03.2026 10min

  Hosted by Alex Kalish, Product Manager - Technical at Amazon. Produced by Amazon's Internal Corporate Communications and Employee Experience Communications teams.
• Aza can handle tasks for you: Aza's AI agent explained 06.03.2026 11min

  Hosted by Alex Kalish, Product Manager - Technical at Amazon. Produced by Amazon's Internal Corporate Communications and Employee Experience Communications teams.
• How to make AI give you exactly what you need, not everything it knows 06.03.2026 14min

  Hosted by Alex Kalish, Product Manager - Technical at Amazon. Produced by Amazon's Internal Corporate Communications and Employee Experience Communications teams.
• Learn the 3-question technique that makes AI your thought partner 06.03.2026 11min

  Hosted by Alex Kalish, Product Manager - Technical at Amazon. Produced by Amazon's Internal Corporate Communications and Employee Experience Communications teams.
• The context document technique: How you can get better AI results in minutes 06.03.2026 15min

  Hosted by Alex Kalish, Product Manager - Technical at Amazon. Produced by Amazon's Internal Corporate Communications and Employee Experience Communications teams.