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The announcement follows news of layoffs at the company earlier this year.
Three years after taking up the role, Adam Selipsky is stepping down as CEO of Amazon Web Services (AWS).
In a statement released today (14 May), Amazon CEO and president Andy Jassy said Selipsky was one of the first VPs hired by AWS in 2005, before leaving to become CEO of Tableau 11 years later.
“I’ve always had a lot of respect for Adam, and we met several times to discuss the possibility of coming back to lead AWS. In those conversations, we agreed that if he accepted the role, he’d likely do it for a few years, and that one of the things he’d focus on during that time was helping prepare the next generation of leadership,” said Jassy.
Selipsky said he was taking the next step with “mixed emotions”, having spent almost 15 combined years with AWS.
“In the back of my head I thought there might be another chapter down the road at some point, but I never wanted to distract myself from what we are all working so hard to achieve,” he added.
“Given the state of the business and the leadership team, now is an appropriate moment for me to make this transition and to take the opportunity to spend more time with family for a while, recharge a bit, and create some mental free space to reflect and consider the possibilities.”
Taking over from Selipsky at the helm is Matt Garman, another AWS veteran who started as an MBA intern in 2005. He will take up the role of CEO from 3 June.
Garman said he is “more optimistic” than ever for the potential of innovation and growth at the company. “There will naturally be some organisational adjustments that we will make as part of this transition, so look for details on those in the coming weeks.”
The leadership change comes a little over a month after news broke that the company is planning to cut hundreds of staff across several of its services. The company also faces increasing regulatory pressure along with other cloud providers due to the European Data Act, which came into effect in January.
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