Industry Odisha Bureau, Oct 28: Amazon has issued updated artificial intelligence (AI) guidelines for its software engineers. It has urged them to prioritise customer outcomes and productivity gains over the volume of AI tools they use. The company has warned employers against adopting AI simply to follow industry trends or inflate usage statistics.
An internal memo outlines the changing expectations for Software development Engineers (SDEs). Therein, it has described an emerging role called th e; Renaissance Developer.” The concept combines AI proficiency with human judgement, technical expertise and a strong understanding of customer needs.
Amazon said AI is changing software development more rapidly than previous technology shifts. This has marked it important for engineers to learn how to use these tools in their daily work. However, the company stressed that AI adoption alone does not define an engineer’s performance.
The memo also criticises “tokenmaxxing”, in which developers assign unnecessary tasks to AI agents to increase token consumption and appear productive. Amazon considers metrics such as token usage and the volume of AI-assisted code changes unreliable indicators of performance. The company reportedly shut down an internal AI leaderboard in May 2026 after employees manipulated the system.
Instead, Amazon wants to measure actual results, including “feature velocity” — the pace at which successful updates and new features reach customers. AWS vice president Marc Brooker discussed the shift in performance measurement with CNBC.
The guidelines also ask managers to gain practical experience with AI tools and assess where they deliver value. Employees are encouraged to document cases where AI proves ineffective rather than use it unnecessarily.
Amazon ultimately wants engineers to stay closely connected to customers and make informed decisions about when AI can improve their work and when it cannot.
