Q&A with Lekshmi Pillai

Lekshmi is coming up on 2 full years with Amazon during one of the most difficult times to be an effective engineering manager. She graciously shared some of her thoughts on her time here on the DEX team and how to foster a successful and diverse team.

What is your favorite Amazon memory?

There are so many great memories in Amazon so it is difficult to pick just one, so I will share an early one - my interview experience. It was two days and on the first day, there was an event organized by the recruiters to help the candidates understand the Amazon culture and all of the cutting-edge innovations underway internally. Though I had an outsider’s view of different innovations at Amazon, I was amazed by the opportunities in this company and the intense commitment to customer obsession.

What brings you passion/excitement to your role and team?

It is really amazing to be a customer for the product/service you build. I am part of Delivery Experience (DEX) Speed team and we aim?to provide our customers the fastest and lowest cost delivery options. We want to exemplify Speed not just in the delivery options we provide to the customers but in the pace with which we roll out features and capabilities. A critical part of that is the architecture simplification to enable new regions for Same Day Shipping (with multiple deliverable windows) at scale. The secondary part of our charter is optimization –connect with the transportation, Fulfillment Centers and customer demand signals, to find the right delivery windows for our customers. It’s a very interesting challenge to navigate through these complex systems and consistently deliver a simplified customer experience.?I?truly feel that every day is Day One here!

What is your favorite leadership principle and why?

I am big fan of many of our leadership principles such as “Ownership” and “Learn and Be Curious”, but my favorite is?“Hire and Develop the Best”. I strongly believe that best team can achieve the impossible. In Amazon, I am really amazed by the unbiased emphasis in finding and nurturing the best talent. I relish how the leaders are trained to maximize their team members potential, develop their super powers, and help them achieve their career goals.

How important is diversity to you and what value does it bring?

I believe diversity fosters a more creative and innovative work environment. Having said that, this would not happen unless the team emphasizes inclusive activities and provides a voice to everyone. I have a very diverse team in terms of age, race, gender, education, and this diversity brings in fresh perspectives helping us innovate and succeed at a faster pace.?Communication plays a key role in fostering diversity and inclusiveness. One of the specific efforts that I have taken is to organize team events like potlucks to celebrate our differences and help the team get acquainted. I also personalize one-on-one discussions with my team members to understand what they care about, and ensure they feel comfortable and invested in the team. I am also part of AWE (Amazon Women in Engineering) and WIT (Women In Tech) groups, where I often seek guidance from my mentors and peers in building a safe and inclusive work environment.

?What are the things you appreciate most about Amazon’s culture?

Two things: Amazon’s leadership principles: when it comes to leadership principles, Amazonians walk the walk. I am amazed to see how deeply embedded the leadership principles are in everything we do at Amazon and?more so, how relevant these are to everything you do. The other thing I cherish at Amazon is the writing culture. It’s a great mechanism to drive clarity of thought and transparency. A good document goes through several iterations, which at times seems an overhead, but helps raise the quality and depth of discussions, and ultimately helps us move faster towards the right outcomes.

What do you miss most about working onsite at Amazon?

I miss the team discussions over the hot coffee in our breakrooms. Often times, we have found solution for complex problems in these informal chats which otherwise would have taken us hours to solve (another good reason to have more coffee breaks). Many of our hackathon ideas originated there. It may sound cliché, but I really miss the in-person meetings and personal interactions. I derive lot of energy from those discussions and as I look back, I believe that was one of key motivations to come to work.?

What new skills or hobbies have you developed since we’ve been working remotely?

Being part of one of the world’s most customer-centric company, there’s never a dull moment. However, this pandemic has taught me to take a step back and appreciate little things in life. Lately, I've developed an interest in edible gardening, which has not only been a?stress-buster for me, but has also increased my patience and perseverance. I love watching my plants grow, blossom, and of course, taking selfies with them.

To learn more about working with Lekshmi or developing solutions for our DEX organization, email me [email protected] or check out our openings.