AWS CEO Matt Garman identifies massive business opportunity for Amazon in AI-powered software, saying ‘Everything is going to be remade’

(SeaPRwire) –   AWS chief executive Matt Garman is not concerned by discussions of a “SaaSpocalypse.” In fact, his confidence in companies continuing to purchase software-as-a-service in the AI age is so strong that he is guiding Amazon Web Services into the SaaS sector, launching various products specifically designed for office workers and other professionals.

On Tuesday, AWS introduced Amazon Quick, a desktop application that allows users to interact with an AI chatbot for personal productivity tasks such as creating work presentations and organizing meetings. The company also unveiled three new Connect applications aimed at assisting workers with specialized tasks in areas like hiring, healthcare, and supply-chain management.

For the world’s leading cloud computing provider, whose primary business involves helping companies like Netflix, Adidas, and Pfizer manage their websites and online operations, selling software for individual workers marks a notable strategic shift.

In an interview with on Tuesday, Garman characterized this as a “significant business opportunity” for AWS, stating that the emergence of agentic AI prompted the company’s deeper involvement.

“As we examine applications, we observe that numerous applications are now being executed with AI and agents. We believe there is such a profound transformation occurring that everything will be re-envisioned,” Garman stated.

“I don’t think personal productivity has truly been remade for the last 30 years,” Garman commented regarding the new Quick application. Quick will be accessible to individual users, even those who are not AWS customers, offering both a free and a premium tier.

Garman said, “There will be millions of successful applications that people use; obviously, the vast majority of them will not be developed by Amazon or AWS, but we believe there are a handful that we can build that will be quite successful and that customers will appreciate.”

AWS showcased the new products at an event in San Francisco on Tuesday, where the company also announced details of a new collaboration with OpenAI. For the first time, AWS business customers will be able to directly integrate OpenAI’s AI models into their products and services. Previously, OpenAI’s GPT models were exclusively available through Microsoft’s cloud due to an exclusive partnership established several years ago between Microsoft and OpenAI. That agreement was revised this week, enabling AWS to offer the latest GPT models and OpenAI’s Codex coding tool to its cloud customers, alongside other models such such as Anthropic’s Claude and Meta’s Llama.

While Garman did not disclose the financial terms of AWS’s new partnership with OpenAI, he did confirm it includes a revenue share. Earlier this year, Amazon invested $50 billion in OpenAI, and the company has been collaborating with OpenAI on model training and other initiatives.

These product announcements come one day before Amazon is scheduled to release its first-quarter results, which will occur after the market closes on Wednesday. AWS is Amazon’s fastest-growing business segment, with revenue increasing 20% to $128.7 billion in 2025, and its most profitable, generating $45.6 billion in operating income last year.

Garman, who joined AWS as an intern in 2006, was appointed CEO of the business in May 2024. His leadership of Amazon’s cloud business has coincided with the AI boom and the significant efforts among cloud providers, including Microsoft, Google, and Oracle, to invest substantial sums in building data centers and other AI infrastructure.

Amazon has stated its intention to spend $200 billion in capital expenditures this year, an increase of over 50% from its $131 billion in capex for 2025.

When asked if he could have envisioned such massive investments when he assumed the CEO role two years ago, Garman responded that AWS has always operated in a capital-intensive business sector.

He stated, “I don’t know if I would have precisely expected we would be at the current rate, but it’s heavily linked to how quickly the business is expanding. So, the faster the business grows, the more capital expenditure we need to undertake to ensure we have sufficient capacity for customers. But if you examine the economics of AWS, you would invest in that continuously.”

Garman indicated that, due to its experience and expertise in operating data centers efficiently and at low cost, AWS’s move to offer customers AI-powered software like Quick and Connect products would not negatively impact profit margins.

Garman concluded, “We get to operate and benefit from all the efficiencies we gain from AWS. We believe many of these could yield higher margins than just the infrastructure, where you add continuous value on top of those.”