Putting AI to work: AWS unveils agentic enhancements for Connect and Quick alongside new alliance with OpenAI

In an indication of how rapidly the world of artificial intelligence is evolving, Amazon Web Services Inc. today unveiled an expanded portfolio of offerings designed to move agentic AI up the software stack, while forging a new partnership with OpenAI Group PBC.

The cloud giant released new customer support services for Amazon Connect that focused on healthcare, supply chain management and hiring. AWS also launched updates for Amazon Quick, bringing a deeply personalized and proactive assistant to the desktop.

The company’s latest moves reflected a belief that agentic AI needed to progress beyond just replacing tasks for humans, according to AWS Chief Executive Matt Garman (pictured). He noted during a briefing for media and analysts in San Francisco today that Amazon’s Prime Video unit implemented several of the new agentic solutions for a major rewrite of internal code prior to today’s release.

“Instead of it taking two years, it took two quarters,” Garman said. “You can change those business processes for the better.”

Agents as teammates

Speed of development was a primary theme among Amazon’s various announcements. The  enhancements for Connect introduced new tools for deploying AI-native payment processing workflows in weeks. It’s part of building AI agents that operate as true work partners, explained Colleen Aubrey, senior vice president of Applied AI Solutions at AWS.

“This is not about delivering another pretty dashboard,” Aubrey said. “We need to build agentic teammates.”

The revamping of Amazon Quick was designed to address the friction that developers often encounter when employing AI tools. AWS has positioned Quick as more than a familiar AI conversational interface, characterizing it as an intuitive solution powered by a personal knowledge graph that connects a user’s files, calendar, email and apps while learning on the fly.

“The way we work is not working,” said Jigar Thakkar, vice president of agentic AI for business. “Quick connects the dots. Quick knows you, wherever work happens. Every time you use Quick, it learns from you.”

Integration with OpenAI

The latest releases from AWS came against a backdrop this week of shifting dynamics between major model providers and hyperscalers. OpenAI and Microsoft Corp. announced on Monday that they would revise their technology partnership to allow ChatGPT’s developer models to become available on Amazon Bedrock.

Today AWS made several additional announcements that included Bedrock-managed agents powered by OpenAI and an integration of Codex into Amazon’s single application programming interface for accessing foundation models. Customers will now be able to build with OpenAI models in AWS, in concert with the cloud provider’s services, security controls, identity systems and procurement processes.

“It’s wild to be thinking that we had nothing eight weeks ago, and now we’re onstage talking about all of the things we are building together,” Anthony Liguori, vice president and distinguished engineer at Amazon, said during a panel session to discuss OpenAI. “The next year is going to completely revolutionize the industry.”

For some observers, today’s announcements involving AWS and OpenAI could provide further evidence that the software-as-a-service or SaaS industry is facing imminent collapse, often referred to as the “SaaSpocalypse.” AWS’ Garman does not see this as a likely outcome, at least for those firms that get with the program.

“’SaaSpocalypse is a fun word, but it is probably a little bit overblown honestly,” Garman said. “Incumbent providers of applications have such a huge advantage. If all of these companies stick their head in the sand and don’t innovate, I’m 100% certain they’ll get passed by.”

Photos: Robert Hof and Mark Albertson/SiliconANGLE