I spent my summer as a Product Manager – Technical (PMT) in Amazon’s Seattle office and worked on a product that I’ve become very passionate about – Alexa! As a PM in the Alexa Growth team, I worked on designing features to drive engagement and monetization for Alexa devices across US.
Amazon is a famously customer obsessed company and I saw that in play nearly everyday this summer. Every team conversation centered around what customer problem we were solving and how we could do it faster. I worked on 3 projects.
- Designing and testing data-driven hypotheses through rapid A/B tests (experiments) to identify features and Alexa functionalities that drove engagement and monetization for customers.
- Leveraging generative AI to transform restaurant experience for Alexa customers. It was interesting how I developed the concept and prototype with my team as part of a Hackathon, where we got senior leadership buy-in to build. This was a unique opportunity to learn the nitty-gritties of generative AI directly from Amazon’s research scientists and working with them to brainstorm ideas for the future of hospitality.
- Designing and launching a new feature to onboard new Alexa customers with a fun game.
I enjoyed my team’s fast-paced working style – testing ideas, iterating and launching rapidly. Because of this, my 12 weeks practically flew by and I got the opportunity to experience the entire PM lifecycle – identifying customer needs and pain points, defining product requirements, building features with Engineers, defining and tracking success metrics, designing launch roadmap, and launching new products/features with Marketing.
While our team worked hard, it partied harder. We actively organized happy hours, onsites, restaurant hopping expeditions and participated together in larger Amazon events.
While initially I was a little unsure whether a transition from Consulting (pre-MBA) to Tech PM would be straightforward, my first year at Booth was helpful in gathering the required skills and preparing for recruiting. Booth Technology Group and Career Services helped me prepare for interviews, and courses like Lab in New Products and Services offered me first-hand experience building new products for large American brands.
Of course, summer in the Emerald City is incomplete without visiting the beautiful National Parks that surround it – North Cascades, Mt Rainier and Olympic. Our group of Boothies went on 10+ hikes together to breathtaking Alpine lakes, massive waterfalls, and snowy peaks. We also took advantage of Seattle’s rich culture – exploring the historic Pike Place market (and doing a self-conducted food tour!) and marveling at the elegant glass sculptures in Chihuly Glass Museum, while continuing our Chicago tradition of Boothie happy hours and BBQs.
