Amazon executive urges engineers to measure AI by long-term outcomes
Amazon told its software engineers that success with artificial intelligence should be measured by long-term outcomes rather than how much the tools are used.
FTMQ Business, written by our newsroom2 views
Amazon instructed its software engineers and managers to judge effective artificial intelligence engineering practices by long-term outcomes rather than usage metrics. Terk Terkowitz, the vice president and distinguished engineer for Worldwide Amazon Stores, delivered the message in an internal memo shared with software engineers across the company and posted online on Tuesday, 27 October 2026, PYMNTS reported. [1]
In the memo, Terkowitz contrasted long-term outcome metrics with input metrics, such as token usage or the rate of adoption of artificial intelligence tools, according to PYMNTS. He emphasized that engineers and managers must focus on the actual results produced by the technology rather than simply increasing reliance on software features. [1]
The guidance comes as businesses across the technology sector examine the workplace impact of artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence applications are increasingly used to monitor productivity, while companies also evaluate how these tools alter daily tasks and engineering standards. [4]
In short
- Amazon vice president Terk Terkowitz sent a memo to software engineers on 27 October 2026.
- The memo stated that AI success should be measured by long-term outcomes rather than token usage.
- Terkowitz contrasted outcome metrics with input metrics like the adoption rate of AI tools.
Sources
Every paragraph above points to the numbered items it rests on. Read the originals here.
- [1]Amazon Tells Engineers Outcomes, Not Tokenmaxxing, Define AI SuccessPYMNTS, 7d ago (the report this story comes from)
Background
- [2]Ring (company) on Wikipedia
- [3]DeepSeek (AI) on Wikipedia
- [4]Workplace impact of artificial intelligence on Wikipedia
Our newsroom writes these reports with the help of software, from the 4 sources listed and nothing else, and checks them against those sources. Facts can still be wrong or move on; the originals are the record. Spotted a mistake? Write to daniel@monsterkong.com.
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