Amazon’s Just Walk Out Team Loses Three, Gains One

Three Amazon executives responsible for developing new technologies for checking out of physical stores, such as Amazon One, Dash Carts, and Just Walk Out, are either leaving or have already departed the division

In addition, Colleen Aubrey, a former high-ranking advertising executive at Amazon, was recently appointed as the senior VP of AWS solutions. Her new role includes the oversight of Just Walk Out, which is one of her numerous responsibilities.

In the spring, Dilip Kumar, the co-creator of Amazon’s cashier-free Just Walk Out technology and the former head of the division, departed the Just Walk Out team.

According to a press release issued by Amazon this week, Kumar has been promoted to vice president, where he is responsible for the company’s AI chatbot for enterprises, Amazon Q. Kumar was purportedly a member of the Q team as early as May.

According to an internal memo obtained by TechCrunch, Sanjay Dash, the executive responsible for identity and payment technologies, informed his colleagues on September 20 that he would be departing for an unspecified position.

Amazon currently employs him; however, it is uncertain whether he intends to remain with the organization or pursue other opportunities.

Jon Jenkins, the executive who is directly responsible for the Just Walk Out team, is also unavailable. Last week, Jenkins disclosed on LinkedIn that he had resigned from Amazon to assume the role of chief technology officer at Lime, a scooter-sharing company.

Colleen Aubrey was previously the head of Amazon’s advertising team and is a member of the company’s “S-team,” which is the inner circle of senior members who provide advice to CEO Andy Jassy.

She is currently a senior vice president responsible for AWS solutions, and In the future, Just Walk Out will be under her jurisdiction.

The moves were verified by an Amazon spokesperson, who also acknowledged that Kumar’s appointment was not fresh. However, it is important to note that his title was altered less than six months ago.

The spokesperson also observes that the company continues to have “strong and deep leadership at Amazon, and in the Just Walk Out team.”

Amazon’s payment technologies are entering a transitional phase as a result of the leadership exodus.

According to reports, Amazon has allocated billions to payment technology. Just Walk Out, its most ambitious and costly endeavor, employs AI systems to analyze data from sensors and cameras.

It theoretically eliminates the necessity for cashiers and charges customers for the items they take with them when they exit the store.

Amazon reportedly intended to establish thousands of these cashierless stores, and at one point, it regarded Just Walk Out as essential to its own expansion into brick-and-mortar stores.

Nevertheless, Amazon discontinued the Just Walk Out technology from its Fresh grocery stores and two Whole Foods stores that were utilizing it earlier this year.

Additionally, the organization has recently shuttered three of its Go convenience stores that utilize Just Walk Out, resulting in a nationwide network of fewer than 20.

The most recent store closures in New York were the result of “high rent,” according to an Amazon spokesperson, and were not related to Just Walk Out.

In recent years, Amazon has restructured its physical stores technology division to concentrate on the sale of Just Walk Out to third-party stores. As a result, numerous executives who have previously spearheaded these initiatives are no longer employed on the project.

Kumar was previously a “shadow” to Jeff Bezos, the founder and former CEO of Amazon, in a manner similar to that of a chief of staff. Kumar appeared to be in charge of the terminal technology division just six months ago, as he successfully resolved a controversy regarding its Just Walk Out technology, which was dependent on human intervention in foreign countries.

Under his previous title, the executive conducted interviews and published blog posts in April, implying that the demise of Just Walk Out was exaggerated.

According to one current and one former employee who is knowledgeable about the situation, Amazon has reorganized numerous executives and teams to concentrate on its AI initiatives over the past year.

(These employees requested anonymity in order to discuss confidential internal movements.) Kumar appears to be one of them.

It is a phenomenon that has been observed in the realm of Big Tech. Apple terminated its billion-dollar automobile project, which it had been developing for a decade, in order to concentrate on artificial intelligence (AI).

In the months following Kumar’s departure to Q, Sanjay Dash, the VP of identity and transaction technology, assumed additional responsibilities.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Dash has been responsible for the technology team of physical stores since 2019.

In 2022, Business Insider reported that Kumar had previously transferred Dash and another executive from Amazon’s physical stores team to AWS as part of a reorganization to concentrate on the integration of Just Walk Out and other technologies into a greater number of third-party stores.

Nevertheless, an internal memo obtained by TechCrunch indicates that Dash informed his staff in September that he would be relinquishing his position as the head of the company’s cashier technology division.

It is uncertain whether Dash will remain at Amazon in the long term or the reason for his departure from the division.

Conversely, Jenkins has demonstrated that executives from Just Walk Out can secure positions in high-ranking positions, including Lime’s executive suite.

Jenkins has been the primary leader of the Just Walk Out team since 2022, as indicated by his LinkedIn profile. Two former Just Walk Out employees have identified him as the team’s primary leader, and they have observed that Jenkins reports to executives such as Dash.

A few terminal technologies have achieved relative success under the leadership of Jenkins, Dash, and Kumar.

Amazon One, its palm recognition payment service, was carried out to over 500 Whole Foods stores last year, as announced in a blog post.

Dash Carts, which enable shoppers to checkout while they purchase, are also still in use by Amazon at numerous Fresh grocery stores.

The third-party venture has also achieved moderate success. A spokesperson for Amazon has informed TechCrunch that the company will open more third-party Just Walk Out stores in 2024 than it has in any previous year. Currently, the company has over 200 locations that utilize Just Walk Out.

Correction: The terms “S-team” and “shadow” were confused in a previous version of this story. Amazon employs distinct terms to characterize executives. Aubrey is a member of Andy Jassy’s “S-team.” Kumar served as Jeff Bezos’s “shadow.”