India has emerged as one of Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) fastest-growing markets, powered by its vast talent pool, thriving developer ecosystem, and an increasingly innovation-first mindset. As AI adoption accelerates across industries, businesses are moving beyond experimentation and exploring new ways to transform operations and customer experiences. Jaime Valles, Amazon VP and MD of AWS Global Sales for Asia Pacific, Japan and Greater China (APJC), speaks to Sudhir Chowdhary about India’s rise as a technology innovation hub, the growing impact of AI, and the opportunities shaping the region’s digital future. Excerpts:
What makes India unique for AWS, and which sectors are leading cloud and AI adoption?
India stands out for its scale, talent, and mindset. It has one of the world’s largest developer communities and a strong “build from India for the world” outlook, which accelerates innovation. We are seeing strong AI and cloud adoption across sectors. Agentic AI, in particular, is driving transformation, supported by startups, enterprises, and developers.
In financial services, customers such as Axis Bank have used Amazon QuickSight to improve scale and efficiency. In the public sector, initiatives such as DigiYatra and Poshan Tracker are enhancing citizen services. In commerce, companies like Swiggy and Zomato are redefining customer experiences. Zomato’s Nugget platform on AWS automates interactions at scale, while innovations such as 10-minute delivery are reshaping consumer expectations.
AWS has long been deeply invested in India, including a $12.7 billion commitment announced in 2023 and a broader $35 billion investment from Amazon.
Is India now seen as an innovation market rather than just a scale and consumption market? What surprises global companies most when they expand here?
India is firmly established as a technology innovation hub. Alongside global IT leaders such as TCS, HCLTech, Infosys, and Wipro, a new generation of companies like Kore.ai is building agentic AI solutions for global markets. Increasingly, companies are being built in India with a global vision from day one. The combination of talent, innovation, and ambition makes India much more than a scale market—it is a source of globally relevant technology and business innovation.
Are companies across Asia Pacific moving beyond AI experimentation and adopting it at scale?
We are already moving into production. The key distinction today is not experimentation versus production, but automation versus transformation. Many organisations are deploying AI at scale, but a large number are still focused on automating existing processes rather than fundamentally transforming how they operate. The companies moving fastest are those whose leaders view AI as a driver of business transformation, not just efficiency.
What does AWS bring to the table in this journey?
AWS brings far more than cloud infrastructure. To unlock the full potential of AI and agentic AI, organisations need a secure, scalable foundation with data at the core.
Following the acquisition of Annapurna Labs, we have built a full-stack AI platform that includes custom silicon such as Graviton and Trainium. Services such as SageMaker help customers build and train models, while Amazon Bedrock provides access to multiple foundation models with governance and responsible AI controls. AgentCore enables the secure deployment of AI agents.
At the application layer, Amazon Q supports business users, and Kiro supports developers. Ultimately, AWS provides the full AI stack—from silicon to applications—along with data, analytics, and security capabilities that help customers innovate at scale.
Which industries in India are likely to be disrupted by AI first?
AI is improving customer experience, efficiency, and ways of working across industries, which means every sector has the potential to be transformed.
That said, startups are likely to be among the biggest drivers of disruption, as they rethink business models and bring AI-native solutions to market. We are also seeing increasing collaboration between startups and established enterprises to accelerate innovation.
Will Asia Pacific produce the next generation of global tech giants?
Asia Pacific is already home to some of the world’s most influential technology companies, including Zomato and Grab. What is particularly exciting is how organisations across the region are using AI and cloud technologies to transform industries, create new business models, and reimagine customer experiences.
As these technologies become more accessible, we expect even more globally significant companies to emerge from the region.
What is your biggest bet on the future of technology and business in this region?
My biggest bet is on people and skills. AWS has trained more than 10 million people in India since 2017 through initiatives such as AWS Skill Builder.
AI and cloud technologies will continue to evolve, but technology is only an enabler. Real transformation depends on how people use it. The organisations that succeed will be those that combine leadership, skills, culture, and customer obsession with AI. That is where meaningful transformation happens.