Amazon Web Services is strengthening its artificial intelligence team with the hiring of Pedram Rezaei, a veteran Microsoft engineering leader who most recently served as the chief technology officer for Microsoft’s Copilot product. Rezaei will join AWS as a distinguished engineer in the Agentic AI and Emerging Technologies organization, reporting to Swami Sivasubramanian, who announced the move in an internal memo. The recruitment signals an intensifying competition between Amazon and Microsoft in AI tools designed for coding and workplace productivity.
Rezaei’s Background and Role at AWS
Rezaei joined Microsoft in 2006 and held senior technical roles across Power BI, Trends 365, Cortana, Bing, and Azure Maps before transitioning to the Copilot division. He became Copilot’s CTO in February and moved to the Microsoft Superintelligence team in June, where he focused on training foundation models, according to his LinkedIn profile.
At AWS, Rezaei will initially work on Kiro, the company’s coding tool, and Quick, an AI assistant for workplace tasks. Sivasubramanian noted in the memo that Rezaei is a hands-on engineer who plans to remain actively involved in coding. The memo also highlighted growth in AWS’s AI products, stating that Kiro’s user count doubled from the first to the second quarter, while monthly AI users for Quick grew fourfold.
Rezaei’s early priorities include meeting with team members, understanding existing workflows, and delivering functional improvements, Sivasubramanian wrote. The hiring aligns with an expansion of Sivasubramanian’s organization in July, which incorporated emerging technologies as part of a broader restructuring of Amazon’s AI divisions.
Competition in Enterprise AI Tools
The move comes amid heightened competition in enterprise AI assistants. Microsoft recently launched an all-in-one Copilot app that integrates chat, coding, and agent capabilities, positioning it as a direct competitor to offerings from OpenAI and Anthropic. Amazon made its Quick desktop application generally available in September and brought its main features to mobile. Rezaei’s experience at Microsoft, including his work on Copilot, positions him to help AWS refine its own suite of AI-driven productivity tools.
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Rezaei’s departure from Microsoft follows a trend of senior executives moving between the two cloud giants this year. In May, Shawn Bice returned to AWS from a security role at Microsoft to lead its Automated Reasoning Group. Sivasubramanian hinted at additional technical leadership hires to support AWS’s ambitious AI roadmap.
AWS Strengthens Neurosymbolic AI with Return of Ex-Engineers
In a memo, Sivasubramanian announced the return of Marvin Theimer and Reto Kramer, who rejoined AWS to focus on neurosymbolic AI and automated reasoning. Their expertise from Microsoft is intended to advance AWS’s strategic direction in AI.
Neurosymbolic AI integrates large language models with rule-based systems to ensure AI agents comply with corporate policies. Sivasubramanian highlighted concerns from executives about AI adherence to regulations during a recent summit, emphasizing the need for verifiable compliance.
Theimer, an AWS distinguished engineer, previously led Microsoft’s technical architecture before returning to AWS as vice president and distinguished engineer. Kramer, who headed AWS’s automated reasoning team, rejoined as vice president of applied science after his tenure at Microsoft’s Security Platform & AI division.