Shift AI Podcast

Laying the Bedrock for Gen-AI at Amazon with AWS VP of Gen-AI Vasi Philomin

Nov 21, 2023

29:47

In this episode of Shift AI, Dr. Vasi Philomin, VP of Generative AI at Amazon Web Services (AWS) shares his experience as a visionary in machine learning and AI, his insights on applying generative AI at Amazon/AWS, and his thoughts on the ethical dimensions and future potential of AI technologies.

Highlights from Vasi’s comments, edited for context and clarity:

Early work experiences: Pioneered connected lighting at Philips Lighting with the City Touch system at Philips Lighting, enabling remote management of city lighting grids and achieving global adoption.
First Paying Job: During a summer internship at Benz in Germany, Vasi delved into computer vision for autonomous navigation.
Family Life: Growing up in a family of medical professionals, I diverged into a math-focused area of computer science, specifically AI, supported by my family despite our different professional paths.
Amazon & Generative AI: At Amazon, we identified three key themes in applying generative AI: the diversity of AI models for different use cases, the need for enterprises to differentiate themselves, and the balance of cost-effectiveness and value.
Amazon Bedrock: Bedrock aims to apply technologies like generative AI at scale. Offering choice, customization, and custom chips for improved generative AI applications.
Human and AI Congruence: AI should handle tedious tasks, allowing humans to focus on complex problems. While human oversight is still essential for verifying AI outputs and augmenting productivity.
Amazon Code Whisper: Created to address the challenges of new programming languages, Code Whisperer enhances developer productivity, with recent updates for customization to internal code bases.
Mentors: Azriel Rosenfield, my grad school advisor, taught me discipline, while Jeffery Cassis at Philips Lighting taught me a more inclusive approach to collaboration and problem-solving.
Future of Work: Generative AI is set to bring transformational productivity, surpassing the internet in impact, tackling complex problems, and augmenting human performance at an unprecedented scale.