The final day at re:Invent was a bit more laid back for the team. It consisted of our final partner meetings and sessions, as well as wandering the Expo hall looking for inspiration amongst the thousands of vendors sprawled across the space. From automated coffee bars to AI-powered basketball tracking and analysis, there was no lack of brilliance and excitement on display.
Cool Tech
AWS put together an interactive demo that tracked an individual’s form and efficiency in a player’s shooting form and accuracy. I haven’t touched a ball in half a decade, but the demo got my attention, and I tried it out. Multiple cameras around the court tracked my movement and shots and gave an after-action report of ball speed, ball trajectory, knee and elbow bend, and shot accuracy. It also sent a highlight video to my email as soon as I finished – crazy stuff! (I went 2 for 3…but who’s counting!) The things we can do with AWS services truly blows my mind sometimes – now I want to build a basketball tracker for my five-year-old, who coincidentally had his first basketball practice today while I was away at re:Invent.
Partner Networking
After exploring the Expo hall, I headed to a meeting with the NAMER Sales team. The session proved invaluable, providing key insights for our 2025 sales strategy. The ability to connect with our partners directly and in person has been this week’s highlight, and I’m grateful they’ve made time in their busy schedules to meet with us.
Werner Vogel’s Keynote
Werner Vogel’s Keynote is always much-anticipated at re:Invent, and this year, he talked about six lessons he’s learned on his 20-year journey at Amazon.
- Make evolvability a requirement from day one
- Break complexity into smaller, manageable pieces
- Align organization structure with architecture
- Organize systems into cells for better operational control
- Design predictable systems to reduce uncertainty
- Automate complexity wherever possible
The session concluded with an announcement of the Now Go Build CTO Fellowship, aimed at supporting organizations working to solve global challenges through technology. During his closing remarks at re:Invent, Werner Vogels challenged the technology community, emphasizing that technologists have a responsibility “to help solve some of the world’s hardest problems.”
Packing Up
As I headed to my room to pack up for my red-eye flight, I ran into one of my colleagues, Jeremiah Small. Jeremiah has always been a guidepost for me on my journey at Soliant, and even though we were at the conference together, our paths hadn’t crossed as much this year as in the past. We were able to reflect on our week at re:Invent and talk about the bright future Soliant has as an AWS Advanced Tier Consulting Partner. I’m grateful to be able to attend this great conference and work with such great partners and co-workers! Here’s to a great end to 2024 and another year of growth in 2025!
