This write-up covers the announcements made at the Amazon re:MARS event held in June 2022, followed by the implications of these new announcements to customers, competitors, and investors, and a summary.
Amazon’s re:MARS (Machine Learning, Automation, Robotics, Space) event, first held in 2019 with a few thousand attendees, came back in June 2022 with several more attendees at the Las Vegas Aria Resort. This year’s re:MARS gave conference-goers new insights about using MARS to transform their businesses based on Amazon’s technologies, knowledge, and expertise in digital transformation.
Amazon showcased capabilities developed to power its own business, including Machine Learning (services like the text to speech, transcription, machine learning developer tools, and more now available from AWS), Automation, and supply chain management (developed to help Amazon deliver physical products to consumers and businesses), Robotics (services built to scale productivity in Amazon warehouses, derived from its strategic acquisition of Kiva, a mobile robotic company, in 2012), and Space (new services being built to support research and development for the Orbital Reef Space Station). Orbital Reef is a collaboration between partners Blue Origin and Sierra Space, with participation from Boeing, Redwire Space, Genesis Engineering Solutions, Arizona State University, Amazon, and AWS. Combined, these four capabilities move beyond the digital transformation of business processes to target the next generation of physical process automation. Two key announcements, as well as several other new offerings, were made.
Amazon CodeWhisperer: Any tool that enhances developer productivity is highly valuable with customers requiring to deliver new applications with limited resources. Amazon has experience assisting developers with Amazon CodeGuru, which helps with code quality, and Amazon DevOps Guru, which helps with application performance and availability. Amazon CodeWhisperer (currently in preview) is a machine learning-powered service reported to have been trained on billions of lines of code to improve developer productivity by reducing repetitive tasks. Taking English-language comments entered by a developer and their prior code, Amazon CodeWhisperer provides code recommendations, allowing developers to accept a recommendation and move to the following coding task. Amazon CodeWhisperer’s ability to work with multiple IDEs and support numerous programming languages shows a good promise for acceptance among developers.
AWS IoT ExpressLink: Deployment of edge solutions encompasses a range of architectural challenges, including security, connectivity, and support for a wide range of devices. AWS IoT ExpressLink, in conjunction with other IoT services like AWS IoT Core, AWS IoT Device Defender, and AWS IoT Device Management, packages connectivity, security, and device management capabilities to assist customers in reducing the complexity of building an IoT solution. Specifically, AWS IoT ExpressLink works with hardware modules pre-provisioned with security that addresses a significant security challenge in IoT implementations.
Other announcements: 1. In conjunction with Axiom Space, an announcement was made about AWS Snowcone being used on the International Space Station (ISS) related to performing edge processing on space-based datasets. 2. Amazon SageMaker Ground Truth added a new feature that allows customers to generate labeled synthetic image data and reduces the effort in creating high-quality datasets required to train machine learning models. 3. A collection of announcements focused on applying AI/ML technologies in retail settings, including Just Walk Out, Amazon One, Amazon Dash Cart, and Amazon Style.
Implications to customers The next generation of innovation to deliver business efficiencies lies in the automation of physical tasks. Edge computing combined with AI/ML and 5G technologies offer a path for extending business value beyond digital transformation. Customers should evaluate Amazon’s experience in automation while picking vendors for the automation of physical processes.
Implications to competitors Amazon’s CodeWhisperer and GitHub CoPilot both deliver tools for developer productivity. As Amazon CodeWhisperer moves from a preview offering to becoming generally available, customers will have a set of tools from Amazon, separate from GitHub Pilot, catering to the developer community. By sharing Amazon’s experience in warehouses and retail settings, customers get a lower risk in choosing AWS solutions, and competitors will be expected to deliver tested alternatives.
Implications to investors Solutions offered at re:MARS increase the addressable market for AWS implementations by going beyond the traditional digital transformation of business processes to automating physical processes. AWS’s Private 5G offering (still in limited release) allows the combination of AWS Outpost and AI/ML to deliver high bandwidth/low latency applications in several industries, including manufacturing, agriculture, mining, and warehouse operations. Investors should evaluate if the new offerings result in more profitable opportunities for AWS.
Summary:
The re:MARS event showcased Amazon’s use of warehouse technologies like Kiva combined with the range of cloud computing capabilities of AWS. Several sponsors, from Lockheed Martin in the space industry to Intel and NVIDIA in the chip industry, demonstrated unique solutions outside traditional information technology. As Amazon with AWS combines the physical automation experience with cloud technologies, customers can take advantage of the ability to implement next-generation innovation solutions quickly.
Notes on the Amazon events:
Amazon organizes several major and minor events yearly (see Figure 1 above). Of the major events, AWS re:Invent is the largest and longest-running event framed as a cloud computing learning event. AWS re:Inforce, focused on security, was held in 2019 and 2021, and the third 2-day event has been scheduled for July 2022 in Boston, MA. To understand the concept and goal of the re:MARS event, you need to follow the innovation that Amazon has delivered to customers since launching AWS around 2006. Amazon started as a bookseller and faced numerous challenges with legacy hardware and software to match customer demand with appropriate performance and scalability. The homegrown solutions were eventually sold as services to customers at a fraction of legacy vendor solutions.
The next set of challenges facing Amazon was to scale the physical capabilities of warehouses while automating human tasks to deliver products at the volumes and timeliness to match customer demands. Amazon acquired Kiva, a mobile robotic fulfillment system company, in 2012 to add automation to the supply chain. Blue Origin, founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos, recently announced a partnership with AWS in building the Orbital Reef space station. Moving beyond the digital transformation of business processes, Amazon and AWS collaborate to provide customers with a unique event targeting the next generation of physical process automation. The re:MARS event targets machine learning, automation, robotics, and space combining the Amazon experience outside traditional information technology with cloud technology.
Amazon showcased capabilities developed to power its own business, including Machine Learning (services like the text to speech, transcription, machine learning developer tools, and more now available from AWS), Automation, and supply chain management (developed to help Amazon deliver physical products to consumers and businesses), Robotics (services built to scale productivity in Amazon warehouses, derived from its strategic acquisition of Kiva, a mobile robotic company, in 2012), and Space (new services being built to support research and development for the Orbital Reef Space Station). Orbital Reef is a collaboration between partners Blue Origin and Sierra Space, with participation from Boeing, Redwire Space, Genesis Engineering Solutions, Arizona State University, Amazon, and AWS. Combined, these four capabilities move beyond the digital transformation of business processes to target the next generation of physical process automation. Two key announcements, as well as several other new offerings, were made.
Amazon CodeWhisperer: Any tool that enhances developer productivity is highly valuable with customers requiring to deliver new applications with limited resources. Amazon has experience assisting developers with Amazon CodeGuru, which helps with code quality, and Amazon DevOps Guru, which helps with application performance and availability. Amazon CodeWhisperer (currently in preview) is a machine learning-powered service reported to have been trained on billions of lines of code to improve developer productivity by reducing repetitive tasks. Taking English-language comments entered by a developer and their prior code, Amazon CodeWhisperer provides code recommendations, allowing developers to accept a recommendation and move to the following coding task. Amazon CodeWhisperer’s ability to work with multiple IDEs and support numerous programming languages shows a good promise for acceptance among developers.
AWS IoT ExpressLink: Deployment of edge solutions encompasses a range of architectural challenges, including security, connectivity, and support for a wide range of devices. AWS IoT ExpressLink, in conjunction with other IoT services like AWS IoT Core, AWS IoT Device Defender, and AWS IoT Device Management, packages connectivity, security, and device management capabilities to assist customers in reducing the complexity of building an IoT solution. Specifically, AWS IoT ExpressLink works with hardware modules pre-provisioned with security that addresses a significant security challenge in IoT implementations.
Other announcements: 1. In conjunction with Axiom Space, an announcement was made about AWS Snowcone being used on the International Space Station (ISS) related to performing edge processing on space-based datasets. 2. Amazon SageMaker Ground Truth added a new feature that allows customers to generate labeled synthetic image data and reduces the effort in creating high-quality datasets required to train machine learning models. 3. A collection of announcements focused on applying AI/ML technologies in retail settings, including Just Walk Out, Amazon One, Amazon Dash Cart, and Amazon Style.
Implications to customers The next generation of innovation to deliver business efficiencies lies in the automation of physical tasks. Edge computing combined with AI/ML and 5G technologies offer a path for extending business value beyond digital transformation. Customers should evaluate Amazon’s experience in automation while picking vendors for the automation of physical processes.
Implications to competitors Amazon’s CodeWhisperer and GitHub CoPilot both deliver tools for developer productivity. As Amazon CodeWhisperer moves from a preview offering to becoming generally available, customers will have a set of tools from Amazon, separate from GitHub Pilot, catering to the developer community. By sharing Amazon’s experience in warehouses and retail settings, customers get a lower risk in choosing AWS solutions, and competitors will be expected to deliver tested alternatives.
Implications to investors Solutions offered at re:MARS increase the addressable market for AWS implementations by going beyond the traditional digital transformation of business processes to automating physical processes. AWS’s Private 5G offering (still in limited release) allows the combination of AWS Outpost and AI/ML to deliver high bandwidth/low latency applications in several industries, including manufacturing, agriculture, mining, and warehouse operations. Investors should evaluate if the new offerings result in more profitable opportunities for AWS.
Summary:
The re:MARS event showcased Amazon’s use of warehouse technologies like Kiva combined with the range of cloud computing capabilities of AWS. Several sponsors, from Lockheed Martin in the space industry to Intel and NVIDIA in the chip industry, demonstrated unique solutions outside traditional information technology. As Amazon with AWS combines the physical automation experience with cloud technologies, customers can take advantage of the ability to implement next-generation innovation solutions quickly.
Notes on the Amazon events:
Amazon organizes several major and minor events yearly (see Figure 1 above). Of the major events, AWS re:Invent is the largest and longest-running event framed as a cloud computing learning event. AWS re:Inforce, focused on security, was held in 2019 and 2021, and the third 2-day event has been scheduled for July 2022 in Boston, MA. To understand the concept and goal of the re:MARS event, you need to follow the innovation that Amazon has delivered to customers since launching AWS around 2006. Amazon started as a bookseller and faced numerous challenges with legacy hardware and software to match customer demand with appropriate performance and scalability. The homegrown solutions were eventually sold as services to customers at a fraction of legacy vendor solutions.
The next set of challenges facing Amazon was to scale the physical capabilities of warehouses while automating human tasks to deliver products at the volumes and timeliness to match customer demands. Amazon acquired Kiva, a mobile robotic fulfillment system company, in 2012 to add automation to the supply chain. Blue Origin, founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos, recently announced a partnership with AWS in building the Orbital Reef space station. Moving beyond the digital transformation of business processes, Amazon and AWS collaborate to provide customers with a unique event targeting the next generation of physical process automation. The re:MARS event targets machine learning, automation, robotics, and space combining the Amazon experience outside traditional information technology with cloud technology.