AWS Executive Insights

From covering the front desk as an intern to leading global business strategy, James Waters’ career at Booking.com mirrors the company’s own transformation.
Now Chief Business Officer, Waters reflects on how experimentation, data-driven decision making, and a strong customer focus have powered Booking.com’s growth. As generative AI reshapes the travel industry, he shares how the company is evolving its connected trip vision while reinforcing responsible AI principles and strong technical foundations.
This episode offers leaders a thoughtful perspective on scaling innovation, sustaining culture through change, and using AI to amplify human ingenuity.

Dr. Ruba Borno, AWS Vice President of Global Specialists and Partners, shares her journey from refugee to technology leader and reveals what drives purpose-driven leadership. As a daughter of Palestinian refugees who came to the U.S. during the first Gulf War, she learned early that opportunity is a gift—and believes in "leaving the ladder there" for others to climb.
In this conversation with host Richard Taylor, Dr. Borno discusses building high-performing teams, leading 18,000 engineers through COVID-19, and scaling customer support through AI innovation. She shares critical leadership lessons: ask the right questions rather than having all the answers, trust your instincts, and create environments where teams can safely innovate and fail.

What does it take to migrate the heart of a nation’s banking system to the cloud?
In this AWS Executive Insights fireside chat, Ben Cabanas sits down with Simon Davies, GM of Core Banking at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, to unpack one of the most mission-critical cloud transformations in financial services. With nearly 40% of Australia’s liquidity flowing through CBA’s core platform, the stakes were enormous.
Simon shares how CBA migrated the world’s largest SAP core banking deployment to AWS while improving reliability, reducing infrastructure costs by 30%, and enabling real-time customer experiences. Beyond the technical achievement, he reveals how transparency, cultural alignment, and a rallying cry of “believe” helped mobilize thousands across the organization to deliver change at national scale.

What if AI's greatest potential isn't replacing humans—but empowering them? In this AWS Executive Insights fireside chat, Ian Wilson, VP of Senior Talent & Transformation at Amazon sits down with Edith Cooper, Co-Founder of Medley, Board Director at Amazon and PepsiCo, and former Goldman Sachs CHRO, to explore how leaders can navigate AI transformation while strengthening human connections. Cooper shares her "be bold and care" leadership philosophy, emphasizing that uncertainty demands more communication, not less. Discover how to create thriving workplaces where employees bring their full genius, apply human judgment to AI-driven insights, and build cultures of accountability and growth in partnership with other humans and AI technologies.

At AWS re:Invent's Executive Summit, Tom Godden, Executive in Residence at AWS, delivered a masterclass on transforming data analytics from a technical initiative to a core business driver—using Formula 1 racing as the ultimate example of data excellence in action. Learn how leading organizations leverage advanced analytics and AI to convert millions of data points into actionable insights that drive competitive advantage. Discover a proven framework for data excellence that focuses on customer-centric utilization, agile strategies, and adaptive architecture. From avoiding the "$50 million mistake" of trying to "boil the ocean" to implementing real-time analytics like F1 teams, this session reveals how to elevate your data strategy and create business victory in today's AI-powered economy.