“India is Amazon’s Prime Bet”

From 10-minute delivery to AI foundation models, Amit Agarwal, Senior Vice President for Emerging Markets at Amazon, explains why the company is India's largest foreign investor

- SIDDHARTH ZARABI

He has been with Amazon since 1999, long enough to have watched the company evolve from an online bookstore into an everything store, a global technology conglomerate, and a major long-term investor in India. So, when Amazon recently announced a $35-billion investment in the country, it made sense to speak with Amit Agarwal, Senior Vice President for Emerging Markets at Amazon, and one of the executives closest to that growth story.

In a conversation with BT, Agarwal spoke about what the announcement signals. He also reflected on his years at Amazon and what he took away from working closely with founder Jeff Bezos as his technical advisor in 2007—especially the focus on customer obsession, innovation and thinking big.

That thinking, Agarwal confirms, is also reflected in the way Amazon runs meetings. It is true, he explains, that meetings often begin with everyone reading a memo first. For every meeting, there is an owner who brings a six-page narrative and a set of anticipated questions from the reader with upfront answers. The six-page limit is deliberate: it forces clarity and crisp thinking, unlike presentations or long write-ups where it is easy to drift. Edited excerpts:

SZ: Take us through the details of the investment. Why India and why now?