AI becomes a true team member... AWS unveils "digital colleague" technology blueprint

As AI technology gradually becomes deeply integrated into human-centered operations, the concept of “AI colleagues” is emerging as a concrete technological roadmap. Amazon Web Services ((AWS)) is at the forefront of this transformation, developing AI technology stacks aimed at enabling autonomous agents to participate in real-world tasks. In particular, cutting-edge agents launched by AWS, such as “Kiro,” and reasoning-based models now symbolize that AI has gone beyond a mere assistive role and is evolving into a collaborative partner.

During an interview at the AWS re:Invent 2025 conference, Colin Aubrey, Vice President of Applied AI Solutions at AWS, emphasized: “Whether it’s Kiro or roles in security or DevOps, the role of AI colleagues is becoming increasingly concrete. This concept is a shared vision applicable to all industries and all fields.” Especially as digital colleagues, AI is designed to undertake high-level roles that require collaborative ability and autonomous decision-making, representing not only technological evolution but also breakthrough changes in practical applications.

This transformation is first emerging in the customer service sector. AWS’s cloud contact center platform “Amazon Connect” has evolved beyond traditional multi-channel customer response and process optimization, now focusing on enhancing the overall user experience. Vice President Aubrey stated: “We’re now moving toward optimizing the entire customer experience, rather than just optimizing individual task units. In the future, even the characteristics or learning methods of AI colleagues will be able to be controlled by organizations.”

The greatest challenge for AI applications ultimately lies in the actual operational deployment phase, commonly referred to as the “last mile.” This is due to the complex interplay of factors such as regulatory compliance and internal process integration. Vice President Aubrey added: “For AI to truly contribute to business operations, it must be able to collaborate with teams day in and day out. Meeting regulatory requirements while maintaining generative thinking and reasoning ability is the most difficult challenge.”

This philosophy is also reflected in AWS’s “Just Walk Out” technology. By combining AI, computer vision, sensors, and RFID, it allows consumers to simply pick up items and leave the store to complete a purchase. The technology achieves this by analyzing user behavior itself, rather than performing personal identification. Vice President Aubrey highly praised its application potential, calling it “a technology that achieves advanced visual reasoning while fully protecting privacy.”

As AI goes beyond simple automation and evolves into a “principal” in business, AWS’s technology strategy is redefining the future of the digital workforce. This indicates that the day when AI truly becomes a “team member” across all industries is not far off.