What the memo said and why Amazon shared it
Amazon circulated an internal memo in September, then posted it on Tuesday, updating how it expects engineers and their managers to operate as AI becomes standard in their toolkits. The company set the tone clearly: "We're just seeing the beginning of AI's effect on software engineering," adding, "While we have a vision for what the future looks like, there's a lot that's still emerging." It also wrote, "We are certain that whatever future best practices are, AI will be at the center of software engineering practice."
Alongside that push, the memo told staff to avoid using AI for its own sake. It called out "tokenmaxxing" - cranking up AI usage without caring whether the output actually helps - as something to skip.
How Amazon wants AI work measured
Amazon said measures such as token usage, the rate of AI-tool adoption, and code changes or reviews are "deeply flawed" for judging teams' AI use, noting they can drive up costs and add needless complexity. It did not ban these numbers outright. Instead, it said teams should treat counts of tokens and volumes of generated code with "care and judgment" and view them alongside other data. The through-line: "We believe that it is best to measure, and be measured by, long-term outcomes."
The company has seen the side effects up close. A spokesperson said Amazon has not imposed token caps, but it did shut down an internal leaderboard in May after finding that some workers were ramping up token use to game their position.
Productivity, ROI, and where AI does not help
Brooker added they want to avoid burning tokens on low-value work and still leave room to experiment: "What we don't want to see is wasted effort where we are going and spending those tokens solving problems that don't matter and sometimes it's hard to know, so we do need to have some appetite for experimentation."
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Amazon also told staff not to force AI where it does not fit. "If your work does not benefit from current AI tooling, that is a finding, not a failing," the memo said. "An engineer who can explain where AI does not yet help their work is demonstrating the judgement we are asking for."
Why this matters for your portfolio
Under CEO Andy Jassy, Amazon has moved AI into many corners of the business. Jassy has said AI will "change the scope and speed" of everyday work, and could shrink parts of the corporate workforce in the coming years through automation, while also creating "other jobs."
The broader backdrop: as employees rush to adopt AI, companies are wrestling with rising costs and how to prove real productivity gains. Some firms have imposed token limits or shifted certain tasks to cheaper open source models. Amazon's memo signals a pivot from raw adoption to outcomes tied to return on investment. For investors, the watch items are whether Amazon's outcome focus reins in cost growth from tokens and tools, and whether metrics like feature velocity translate into more reliable productivity and margin improvement.
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