Amazon CEO Andy Jassy just dropped the latest annual letter to shareholders, and honestly, it’s a lot to process. If you were expecting a dry recitation of quarterly earnings, you don’t know Jassy. This year’s letter is basically a manifesto on how a trillion-dollar company avoids becoming a dinosaur.
He’s obsessed with speed.
The core message? Amazon needs to act like the "world's largest startup." That’s a phrase he’s been leaning on lately, and it's clearly the hill he's willing to die on. He isn’t just talking about shipping boxes faster; he’s talking about tearing down the internal red tape that makes big companies slow and, frankly, annoying to work for.
The Massive Bet on Generative AI
You can't talk about Amazon in 2026 without talking about AI. Jassy didn't hold back here. He basically told shareholders that if they aren't ready for a massive spending spree on data centers and custom chips, they’re in the wrong stock.
Amazon is planning to pour over $100 billion into capital expenditures this year. Most of that is going straight into the AI furnace. Why? Because Jassy believes every single customer experience Amazon offers—from the way you buy groceries to how Alexa talks to you—is going to be reinvented by generative AI.
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He’s not just buying Nvidia chips, either. Amazon is doubling down on its own custom silicon, like Trainium2. They want to own the whole stack. It's a classic Amazon move: build the infrastructure everyone else needs, then charge them to use it. AWS grew 19% year-over-year to $108 billion, and Jassy sees AI as the next multi-billion dollar rocket ship for that segment.
Killing the Bureaucracy
One of the most interesting parts of the Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announces annual letter to shareholders news is his war on "middle management." Jassy revealed he’s been reading hundreds of emails from employees complaining about red tape.
He hates it.
He wants a flatter organization. Specifically, he’s pushing for a higher ratio of individual contributors to managers. The goal is to let the people actually doing the work make "two-way door" decisions—the kind you can walk back if you mess up—without waiting for three layers of approval.
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- Speed as a competitive advantage: If a startup can out-execute Amazon, Jassy sees that as a failure.
- The "Why" Philosophy: He’s encouraging teams to constantly ask why things are done a certain way. Why does a delivery take two days instead of one? Why do we need this meeting?
- Missionaries vs. Mercenaries: He wants people who actually care about the mission, not just people looking for a paycheck.
Logistics and the Regionalization Win
While everyone is distracted by AI, the "Stores" business is quietly becoming much more efficient. Jassy highlighted that for the second year in a row, Amazon hit record delivery speeds for Prime members.
They did this by breaking the U.S. into eight distinct regions. Instead of shipping a toothbrush from California to New York, they make sure that toothbrush is already in a warehouse in New Jersey. It sounds simple, but the math behind it is staggering. By reducing the "touches" on a package, they save money and get it to your door in hours.
Jassy noted that North America revenue grew 10% to $387 billion. That’s a huge number for a "mature" business. It turns out that when you make things cheaper and faster, people buy more stuff. Who knew?
Content, Health, and the "Moonshots"
The letter didn't ignore the shiny new objects. Prime Video is no longer just a perk; it’s a powerhouse. With Fallout, The Boys, and now massive sports deals like the NBA and NASCAR joining Thursday Night Football, Amazon is a legitimate media mogul.
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Then there’s Project Kuiper.
This is Amazon’s answer to Starlink. They are launching thousands of satellites to provide global broadband. It’s a massive, capital-intensive risk, but Jassy is a "long-term" guy. He’s willing to lose money for years if it means owning the internet access for the next billion customers.
What This Means for You
If you’re an investor or just someone who uses Amazon, the takeaway is clear: the company is in an aggressive expansion phase. They aren't hunkering down to protect margins; they are spending every cent they can find to win the AI race and dominate global logistics.
Actionable Insights for 2026:
- Watch the Capex: If Amazon’s spending stays above $100B, they are serious about the AI transition. If it drops, they might be seeing diminishing returns.
- AWS is the Engine: The 19% growth in AWS is the only reason Amazon can afford to take risks on satellites and primary healthcare. Keep a close eye on cloud margins.
- Efficiency over Perks: The "startup" mentality means fewer middle managers. If you work in corporate tech, the era of "rest and vest" at Amazon is officially over.
The Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announces annual letter to shareholders moment isn't just a PR event. It’s a roadmap. Jassy is trying to prove that Amazon can stay hungry even when it’s the biggest player in the room. Whether he can actually kill the bureaucracy or if the "world's largest startup" eventually just becomes another slow-moving giant remains the billion-dollar question.
Check the AWS quarterly cloud reports to see if the AI investment is actually translating into higher-margin revenue.