AWS re:Invent 2025 - A leader's guide to emerging technologies: From insights to rapid action-SNR203
Source: Dev.to
Overview
AWS re:Invent 2025 – A leader’s guide to emerging technologies: From insights to rapid action (SNR203)
In this session, former CIO Arvind and NASA’s first CTO Tom Soderstrom discuss the dual mandate facing technology leaders: delivering operational excellence while champion ‑ and ‑ scaling ‑ innovation. They outline eight major technology trends shaping the next decade:
- Generative AI
- Edge computing
- Robotics & automation
- Biotechnology & medical impacts
- Data growth to quettabytes
- Crypto & decentralized finance
- Quantum computing
- Sustainable energy technologies
The centerpiece of the talk is Tech Recon, an open‑source, multi‑agent AI system that automatically scans technology landscapes, generates reports, and scores technologies by impact, maturity, and momentum. The demo shows how the system can produce both broad landscape analyses and deep‑dive position papers tailored to specific industries (e.g., pharmaceuticals).
Key takeaways
- Shift from a traditional Center of Excellence (CoE) to a Center of Engagement.
- Measure Return on Attention (ROA) alongside ROI.
- A 90‑day implementation roadmap and GitHub repository are provided to help CIOs systematically track emerging technologies and engage business leaders strategically.
This article is auto‑generated from the original presentation; minor typos may exist.
The Dual Mandate Challenge
CEOs and boards increasingly ask leaders for rapid updates on emerging tech—AI strategies, automated customer onboarding, quantum impact assessments, and more. This creates a tension:
- Operational delivery remains non‑negotiable and grows more critical.
- Innovation leadership now demands scouting, evaluating, and integrating new technologies across the organization.
The rapid convergence of AI, robotics, biotechnology, and other domains creates an exponential impact, making it essential for technology leaders to stay ahead while maintaining day‑to‑day excellence.
The media, vendors, and industry events constantly highlight these trends, yet many organizations struggle to surface the insights internally. Overcoming this gap is a core part of the dual‑mandate challenge.
Building a Digital Kampong
Arvind describes his approach to fostering technology innovation through a digital kampong—a community‑style network that brings together enthusiasts, business partners, and technologists.
Kampong is Malay for “village,” reflecting the collaborative, grassroots spirit needed to experiment with emerging tech.
How the kampong works
- Identify enthusiasts with a learning mindset.
- Create safe‑play labs for rapid prototyping (e.g., Alexa skills, IoT sensor pilots).
- Scale experiments to broader business units and even employee families, leveraging personal excitement to drive adoption.
Early experiments
- Alexa Skills – built when Amazon first launched Alexa to explore voice‑first consumer interactions.
- IoT Sensors – deployed in manufacturing to evaluate automation acceleration.
These early projects laid the foundation for a culture where experimentation is encouraged, and insights flow back into the organization.
Next Steps
- Explore the Tech Recon repository on GitHub (link provided in the session).
- Follow the 90‑day roadmap to embed systematic technology scouting into your organization.
- Shift metrics from pure ROI to Return on Attention (ROA) to capture the strategic value of early‑stage insights.
By adopting a Center of Engagement and leveraging community‑driven experimentation, technology leaders can meet the dual mandate of operational excellence and sustained innovation.