Background:
As Amazon rapidly expanded into new areas, the demand for strong engineering talent began to outpace hiring capacity. In an increasingly competitive market, both the time and cost to hire software engineers were rising exponentially. Amazon also had a strategic goal to diversify its technical workforce which was proving difficult to achieve through the existing talent channels. This created the need for an innovative approach to sourcing and developing engineering talent.

Objective:
Develop a program to upskill non-technical employees into software engineering roles, reducing reliance on external hiring, reducing cost to hire, and improving diversity.

Result:
I built and launched Amazon Technical Academy (ATA) to address Amazon’s growing need for software engineering talent, reduce hiring costs, and increase workforce diversity. ATA created career pathways for employees from diverse backgrounds—including warehouse staff, support center employees, project managers, and marketers—enabling them to transition into software engineering roles in just nine months without a traditional computer science degree. I developed the program’s vision, designed its structure, hired the team, and led execution, ultimately reducing talent sourcing costs by 70% and significantly diversifying Amazon’s technical workforce. This effort required influencing stakeholders at all levels, from the CEO and board of directors to software engineers and frontline managers.

Since 2017, ATA has placed 98% of its graduates into software engineering roles at Amazon. The program and curriculum are now integrated within Amazon Web Services re/Start and Educate training programs.