Circa 1999: as the world braced for Y2K, a young engineer named Samir Kumar made a decision that would shape the next 25+ years of his life. He joined a fledgling e-commerce company called Amazon, then just a five-year-old startup. Little did Kumar know that his journey with Amazon would take him across continents, through diverse roles, over two decades to the forefront of India's digital revolution. Today, as the Country Manager for Amazon India, Samir's 25-year odyssey reads like a roadmap of Amazon's own growth—from a modest bookseller to a global shopping destination. His story is a testament to adaptability, continuous learning, team building and the power of Amazon’s celebrated Leadership Principles. "Every time I faced a challenge (working at Amazon) and I was not happy, something fell in my lap or I found something really interesting and exciting," Kumar recalls with a twinkle in his eye. In this freewheeling interview, Kumar talks about his Amazon journey and offers a glimpse into Amazon’s plans for 2025—all aimed at elevating the customer and seller experience across India. Edited excerpts.
1. You've been with Amazon for 25 years, and were part of the launch team of Amazon.in. What motivated you to accept this challenge of becoming the India Country Manager in 2024?
My connection with Amazon in India goes back to 2004 when I helped Amit Agarwal (now SVP for emerging markets) launch the Amazon Development Centre in India. I returned in 2012 to prepare for the launch of Amazon.in, and those four years in India were the best of my career. I loved the energy, the passion of our young team and the startup atmosphere. It was an incredible time - from setting up Wi-Fi in our small incubation space to bringing OnePlus to India. We grew from a team of four to a significant-sized operation. I used to 'dance into work' every day, as Jeff Bezos (Amazon founder) says. In 2016, I left for the US rather reluctantly as my daughter wanted to finish high school there. My learnings from India came in handy when I went on to take a global charter to expand into emerging markets: we went from 11 to 24 emerging countries with Ireland being the latest. When this opportunity to move back to India came up, it was a no-brainer professionally. The only hesitation was balancing family commitments. Amit made it easier by allowing me to travel for the role. So, I'll be based in Bengaluru for a good part of the year, traveling back and forth to Seattle to meet my family.
2. What’s the secret behind your incredible run at Amazon?
People like you (laughs). It's the incredible team I work with at Amazon. The quality of people here is exceptional, and it keeps improving. I’m glad that I got into Amazon in 1999—I wouldn’t have made the cut today. Every year, I meet someone who impresses me more than ever; it is both humbling and inspiring. Luck has also played a significant role. When I first moved to Seattle in October 1999, it was challenging. The weather was gloomy, and as a startup, Amazon demanded long hours. My wife initially struggled with the move, but our first child's arrival in September 2000 changed everything. Then again in 2004, my wife gave me an ultimatum. She said, "Either us or Amazon." At that point I decided to change my role. I was in IT and was planning to apply to business school for an MBA. But when I discussed this with a colleague from the finance department, he said, "Why do you want to do an MBA? I'll teach you on the job." So, I became a financial analyst for a couple of years, and learned accounting, balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow…
3. So, it's not just luck, right? It’s luck meeting a prepared mind and a willingness to learn and try out new things…
"Learn and be curious" (an Amazon Leadership Principle) has had a big influence on my journey at Amazon. Every time I faced a challenge or wasn't happy, something new and exciting came up or I found an opportunity that reignited my passion. Two years into finance, I realised I missed building products. This led to me spending three years as a software development manager. Next, I became a technical advisor to a Senior VP, which prepared me for the business side. In 2012, Amit and Diego Piacentini (then SVP for Amazon’s International Consumer Business) challenged me to apply my theoretical knowledge by coming to India to run the Amazon.in business. So, it’s been a fascinating ride.
4. Is “Learn and Be Curious” your favourite Amazon Leadership Principle then?
I think my favourite is “Earn Trust”. It is one of the most misunderstood leadership principles. People may think that it’s about taking someone out for coffee or having a good conversation.
Instead, “Earn Trust” is about truth-seeking and holding people accountable. If you promise something, you live up to it and be transparent with your people—those are the things that allow you to earn trust.
5. What would be your top advice for new Amazonians who wish to have a fulfilling career like you’ve had?
Take it easy. We hire a lot of type A people who want to quickly jump in and start delivering. In your first few months, go spend time with tenured Amazonians. Read Jeff’s letters. If you get a deep understanding of what Amazon’s Day One culture is all about, you will be a very successful Amazonian in the long term.
6. How is Amazon today different from when you started? And what are your focus areas for 2025-26?
The core of Amazon—our Leadership Principles and focus on key inputs—hasn't changed much since I joined in 1999. What has changed is the scale and complexity of our business. This growth has led to more deliberate decision-making processes.
My focus in India is to maintain our startup energy while navigating scale. Cost reduction and speed improvement are universal customer desires. As consumers continue to evolve, our focus will increase around our core differentiators—low prices, wide selection, fast delivery—in more local, creative ways.
Our technological innovations like the Rufus shopping assistant and Generative AI (a key growth engine for Amazon India), new offerings (Amazon Bazaar, Amazon Pharmacy), and the launch of Amazon Now will demonstrate how we are constantly innovating to offer the best selection at faster speeds to customers. By improving speed, we often lower costs simultaneously. It's not an either-or scenario; we can achieve both. I'm excited about taking our initiatives in India to the next level. However, this doesn't mean we're shifting focus from our core business inputs. We'll continue to: expand the product selection on our marketplace, empower sellers to do more, simplify the selling process on Amazon and improve reach in smaller cities and towns. What hasn’t changed in all these years is Amazon’s commitment to India and we're especially proud of the progress on our India pledges.
7. There’s a lot of talk around quick commerce in India. How does Amazon’s plan to launch 15-minute delivery change things at the operational back end?
Amazon has always focused on offering customers a wide selection with convenient and fast delivery. We are always innovating to offer even more value to customers. ‘Amazon Now’ is a limited pilot in select pin codes in Bengaluru and a trial to offer even faster speeds on a selection of everyday essentials from our sellers that customers often need quickly. Speed has always been a key differentiator for us. For our Prime members, Amazon Prime is delivering a curated selection of must-have products at budget-friendly prices including groceries, pet, beauty, health care items, baby products, cleaning products, and office supplies through Amazon Fresh, in 2-hour blocks. This coupled with 40,000 items delivered in 2-4 hours, 10 lakh items the same day and 40 lakh items delivered the next day, Amazon Prime continues to prioritise serving customers. Quick commerce is not drastically different from our current operations. The real challenge lies in the supply chain—keeping the local hubs stocked with the right products and maintaining high availability. For quick commerce, the key differentiator will be maximising the variety of items in these local hubs while ensuring they're the right products for the specific customer base. This is where we'll leverage our expertise and continue to innovate. Exciting times ahead!
8. Besides 15-minute delivery, what other areas of innovation and excellence would Amazon focus on in 2025-26?
We continue to focus on value, selection and convenience while building trust among customers and sellers. Let me talk about some of our offerings and initiatives.
Ultra-affordable shopping: We see a significant opportunity in products with low average selling price for the India market. We're scaling up Amazon Bazaar to cater to this segment.
Endless, free entertainment: Amazon acquired MX Player last year, which has over 250 million monthly users. The service recently announced its plans to launch 100+ free shows in 2025. Amazon MX Player's advertising capabilities leverages Amazon's shopping signals to enable brands to connect with relevant audiences through innovative advertising formats.
Improved reach and speed: We're expanding and enhancing our fulfilment network, particularly in smaller cities and towns. This will improve delivery speeds and product availability across India.
Amazon Business: Millions of business customers from around the world benefit from Amazon’s focus on value, selection and convenience. Amazon Business helps leaders digitise and automate procurement with powerful management controls and analytic tools—all with the familiar experience of Amazon.
Amazon Pay: At Amazon Pay we have successfully created a comprehensive financial ecosystem that serves millions of Indians daily. Our platform seamlessly integrates various financial services - from everyday payments and money transfers to bill payments and innovative credit solutions. Our robust security infrastructure ensures safe transactions, while our 24/7 monitoring systems provide an additional layer of security for all users.
Export more Made in India products: We're committed to enabling $80 billion in cumulative exports from India by 2030—a four-fold increase from our previous target.
9. We often see you visiting Amazon's fulfilment centres and engaging with delivery associates and partners. As someone who values working with great people at Amazon, what do you take away from these site visits?
I make it a priority to regularly visit our operations sites—whether fulfilment centres or delivery stations—to connect with associates and learn from their experiences. Their commitment to solving complex challenges while maintaining customer obsession truly embodies our Leadership Principles in action. People are the cornerstone of our operations, and their wellbeing was, is and continues to remain a top priority. I truly care about consistently ensuring safe working environments, reliable career paths, and meaningful benefits to our associates. We've implemented several comprehensive, industry-first initiatives to support people in our operations network.
