Panos Panay is in charge of devices and services at Amazon — that's everything from Alexa and Kindle to Ring, Eero, and even the Project Kuiper satellite internet service that's meant to compete with Starlink. He's led the team through giving Alexa a big AI infusion which is what drew him to Amazon after nearly 20 years with Microsoft. Like so many folks in tech, he sees AI as a platform shift that will change the way we use computers. Fair warning: We talk about Alexa a lot in this one, so you might want to go mute your Alexa device mics now. Links: With Alexa Plus, Amazon finally reinvents its best product | Verge The future of the Kindle with Panos Panay | Vergecast Amazon announces AI-powered Alexa Plus | Verge All of the announcements from Amazon’s Alexa Plus event | Verge Alexa Plus arrives with promise but plenty of questions | Verge Amazon Leadership Principles | Amazon How Amazon runs Alexa, with Dave Limp (2021) | Decoder Alexa loses her voice | YouTube Humane is shutting down the AI pin | Verge Mike Krieger wants to build AI products that are worth the hype | Verge Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/621232 Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright. The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Hello and welcome to Decoder. I'm Nilay Patel, editor-in-chief of The Verge, and Decoder is my show about big ideas and other problems. Today, I'm talking with Panos Panay, who's in charge of devices and services at Amazon. That's everything from Alexa to Ring security cameras and Hero Wi-Fi routers to the Project Kuiper satellite internet service that's meant to compete with Starlink.
That's a big remit, but this conversation is almost entirely focused on Alexa. Panos and I talked the day after he announced Alexa+, the new AI-powered version of Amazon's famous voice assistant. And I gotta tell you, this one gets pretty deep into the weeds of how it all works, and how Panos thinks about running his teams to make it happen.
We actually talked about Alexa so much in this episode that I think it's important to take a break here so that any of you with an Alexa device can go mute the microphone. Go ahead, we'll be waiting. All right, you back? So this is another one of those full circle Decoder episodes that I love so much.
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