Q&A with Arti Kansal, Director of Recipient Experience

Everyone, meet Arti Kansal. Arti?joined Amazon as an SDE I back in 2009 and is now the Director of our Recipient Experience (REX) team, which builds exceptional experiences for our customers after purchase. Over her almost 15 year tenure at Amazon, Arti has worked in various teams leveraging her passion for tech to solve challenges and demonstrating that it's always Day 1. Thanks for sharing your Amazon story with us, Arti!

Can you tell us a little about yourself, Arti?

I began my career journey with Amazon India back in 2009 as a Software Development Engineer (SDE1). Since then, I have been promoted to leadership roles across different orgs and gained many experience's with various business areas, mainly in E-commerce.

I have been with Amazon for almost 15 years and have worked in different countries, various roles, and different teams. What keeps me here for so long is that it's never a boring day at Amazon, I'm amazed by the many talented people whom I work with daily. When I changed countries to work for Amazon, there were times I wondered if I will be able to fit in. But I found exemplary mentors, peers and sponsors along the way who believed in me and trusted me. Looking back, I'm proud of how much I've grown thanks to Amazon.

My passion lies in working with smart people to tackle hard problems, all the while learning and having fun. I try to create a work environment where people are excited to come to work, improve their skills, and achieve outstanding results.

What is your favorite Amazon memory?

In 2016-2017, I was tasked with building a new team to innovate on the package tracking side of Delivery Experience (DEX) at Amazon. This was my first time building a team from the ground up. I needed to create a team that was diverse yet collaborative, and that would have the autonomy to define our path.

Within 6-12 months, we had grown from 2 to approximately15 members with diverse backgrounds. We worked closely together as a team and supported each other in achieving our goals. To help foster a sense of community, we did an exercise where team members shared the countries they had lived in and the languages they spoke. This exercise revealed that we had team members with over 10 different nationalities.

Many of the team members from that time have since become tenured Amazonians, and I am proud that we were able to create a strong bond and sense of community during their early journey at the company. This experience of building a team from scratch and achieving success through collaboration and diversity remains one of my favorite memories at Amazon.

What is your favorite leadership principle and why?

I really admire all the Leadership Principles and they are a core part of Amazonian culture. My personal favorite is ‘Are Right a Lot’. I've found that having strong judgment and good instincts is crucial in understanding the importance of other leadership principles.

‘Are Right a Lot’ encourages me to continuously learn and evolve as I gain new insights over time throughout my leadership career journey.

Amazon is always looking for areas to improve. How do you identify opportunities for process improvement? What’s your process for implementing the necessary changes that resulted in measurable success?

In my experience, I've found that there are four steps that can help me succeed when making changes. First, I make sure everyone understands the problem, including leaders, peers, and my team. I use data to support my case. I set aside time to think about the end goal and what steps we need to take to achieve it, identify who will be responsible for different parts of the process. Finally, I take time to look back at key points in the process and make improvements. Amazon's culture of writing is great for steps one and two. I've learned that skipping any of these steps can lead to problems in the future.

Can you tell me about your experience moving from India to the United States within Amazon so early in your career? What challenges have you faced, and who/what helped you overcome them?

Moving to a new country was an intimidating experience for me, especially since it was my first time living away from home and I feared being misunderstood due to the cultural differences between India and the US. Growing up in a middle class family, women were mainly responsible for household work, and did not travel much, but I wanted to be an engineer. So I focused on doing my best and found that people around me were welcoming. Having sponsors who believed in me was critical in helping me overcome my initial fears and built my confidence.

Looking back, the support of my family, especially my husband, played a vital role in shaping my journey. His encouragement and belief in me helped me overcome my fear of change and take on new challenges with confidence.

What do you do for fun / work-life balance? What advice would you give to someone struggling to find a balance between their work and personal life?

When I'm not working, I have a great time being silly with my two kids. We love playing games, making funny faces, and laughing together. I also enjoy cooking delicious meals for my family. I like trying out new recipes and experimenting with different flavors to create tasty dishes. Whenever I get the chance, I love exploring the outdoors through hiking and traveling. There's something exciting about discovering new trails, taking in beautiful scenery, and experiencing the wonders of nature. This summer, we are both eagerly and nervously planning a road trip to the stunning Banff and Jasper National Parks in Alberta, Canada with our two kids in tow!

What is the best place you have ever traveled?

Before the pandemic, we had some memorable trips, two of which stand out. The first trip was to Norway to see the Northern Lights. My husband and I traveled to the Lofoten Islands, which required three flights and a ferry ride, taking over 30 hours to reach there. Thankfully, this was a kid-free trip, and we were thrilled to see the stunning northern lights.

The second trip was a two-week vacation to parts of France, Germany, Austria and Hungary with our 12-month-old baby. Even though we traveled with a baby, our itinerary was entirely flexible, and we were able to plan our next destination based on the weather and our interests the day before. We wrapped up the trip by celebrating our daughter's first birthday in Paris. Although she wouldn't remember anything, it was a joyous moment for us.