![Amazon India Tech Conference AmazONed](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/179a01b/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/300x200!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2Fb4%2F98%2F294a0ad4480a85c2dc22127b4d4e%2Fleadtech.jpg) # AmazONed 2018 - a celebration of innovation, technology & ideas *Our tech conference gets underway in Hyderabad with Alexa as co-host! And it was a coveted opportunity for techies in India to interact and engage. * It's that time of the year when the tech community of Amazon comes together to collaborate, engage, share ideas & best practices and discuss current technologically relevant topics. And from an Innovation fest to WaveTank Presentations to an Alexa Workshop – Day 1 of the 11th edition of the Amazon Tech Conference was buzzing with activity! Bikramjit Singh Walia, Director HR, set the tone for the event with his opening address. “A sizeable portion of Amazon’s tech population resides in India”, he said. And if you though only the techies prepped for this, Alexa was not behind. She too had prepped well for this event. Not just a chatty co-host to the event but Alexa also made a splash in the workshop that acted as a sundowner for day 1. **Mechanisms that drive innovation** Gavin Jewell, Director CCE, gave a riveting talk on the tenets at Amazon that enable innovation. "All innovations at Amazon focus on the customer and then we work backwards. It’s not about the company, profits or team goals. The focus is always the customer”, he said while talking about the mechanisms that drive innovation and giving examples from his 12 years at Amazon. A Panel discussion always brings varied opinions to the forefront. The much-awaited session had experienced Principal Engineers like Alok Govil, Venkataramanan Subramanian, Sanjeev Krishnan, Dick Hardt and Vijay Seshadri on the panel and Manmeet Dhody as the moderator. “How does scale impact us?” This set the ball rolling. The panelists discussed current technology trends when it comes to coping with growth. The audience too participated enthusiastically with questions on predicting traffic and how to introduce scaling and AWS at early stages at Amazon. > All innovations at Amazon focus on the customer and then we work backwards. It’s not about the company, profits or team goals. The focus is always the customer. > — Gavin Jewell, Director CCE **Guiding principles** The ‘Follow the Leader’ energizer got the audience on their feet while the ‘Computer Vision’ case study saw them glued to their seats. “Invent and Simplify” seemed to be the guiding force for most Innovation fest participants. Aditya Paul and Sahil Maggu who are participating in the fest took inspiration from the Amazon tenet in coming up with original ideas and solutions. Over 250 entries were received, of which the top 16 were selected to be displayed at AmazONed 2018. The WaveTank presentations were extremely innovative and engaging. Of the 300 submissions, only the top 10 made it to the final round where they got to present in front of a packed audience. Out of the box ideas and a flair for presenting brought life to the AmazONed stage during the WaveTank presentations. Day one ended with everyone talking about Alexa after the much awaited workshop by Ankit Kala and Sohan Maheshwar. The tech conference this year is putting the spotlight on innovation so stay tuned for updates on the second day of the conference. ![Amazon Tech Confernce in India](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/54e54e6/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1814x1209+0+0/resize/767x511!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2F49%2F02%2Fa772192744dfa596070eff94fd9a%2Famazoned1-4.jpg) I WAS HERE: Badges all ready to be picked up by the attendees of the Amazon India tech conference ![Amazon Tech Confernce in India](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/c4a49d3/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1814x1209+0+0/resize/767x511!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2F9f%2F08%2F64f4a11a4dffbc8b00e79e439714%2Famazoned1-8.jpg) SOMETHING EXTRA: This always brings a smile ![Amazon Tech Confernce in India](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/33226bd/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1814x1209+0+0/resize/767x511!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2F7a%2Ff7%2F5fad232548f5b3627a874ef902dd%2Famazoned1-5.jpg) ENGAGING CONVERSATIONS: An exciting panel discussion bringing varied opinions to the forefront. ![Amazon Tech Confernce in India](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/3902fb2/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1814x1209+0+0/resize/767x511!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2F1e%2F26%2Fa29b0e764bacbc29f890f56ef5bc%2Famazoned1-7.jpg) A riveting talk on the tenets at Amazon that enable innovation. ![Amazon Tech Confernce in India](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/65ee91f/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1814x1209+0+0/resize/767x511!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2F56%2Fee%2Fab188192433f8ebff578b93fa6c6%2Famazoned1-6.jpg) S'TALL' TALK: Learning more at the tech stalls ![Amazon Tech Confernce in India](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/50f802f/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1814x1209+0+0/resize/767x511!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2Fcd%2F18%2F95e19b144452bdda92c7f8ecf6c9%2Famazoned1-12.jpg) Speaking about technology trends, coping with growth and a lot more ![Amazon Tech Confernce in India](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/53e32fa/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1814x1209+0+0/resize/767x511!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2F85%2F2f%2Ffc6e7a234ebf85465b75db858f1e%2Famazoned1-11.jpg) When there are exciting presentations, there is never a dull moment