S11 Ep24: Tech with Purpose: Protecting People with Innovation at Amazon

Guests: Aaron Parness (Director) & Beryl Tomay (VP)

Amazon is reinventing the future of work. with robots that can feel, AI smart glasses for delivery drivers, and new safety-first systems that transform how millions of packages move every day. In this episode, we go behind the scenes at Amazon’s “Delivering the Future” event to explore how technology, robotics, and human-centered leadership are transforming work at massive scale.

First, Aaron Parness, Director of Applied Science in Robotics & AI, reveals how his team built Vulcan — a robot with a sense of touch — and what it teaches us about experimentation, iteration, and designing technology that elevates human workers instead of replacing them.

Then, Beryl Tomay, Vice President of Transportation at Amazon, shares how innovations like AI-driven smart glasses, hazard detection, and advanced driver training are making frontline work safer, more dignified, and more sustainable…all while getting packages to your porch quickly. You’ll learn:

✅ How human–robot collaboration actually works ✅ Why Amazon isn’t aiming for “100% automation” ✅ How AI smart glasses increase safety in the field ✅ What it really takes to scale innovation to millions of deliveries a day.

This episode is a masterclass in leading innovation with clarity, courage, and humanity.

Related episodes you'll enjoy:

• Amazon’s Innovation Secret: Look to Failure for Success with Beryl Tomay
• Delivering the Future: Why Amazon Execs Lead Beyond Retail with Kara Hurst & Ryan Redington
• Four Key Lessons from Amazon’s Head of Family Trust with Catherine Teitelbaum
• How Moonshots & Robots Put Packages on Your Porch with Steve Armato

 

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

 

RESOURCES:  

Learn more about the new delivery technologies Beryl mentioned at https://bit.ly/DeliveryTech. To discover more about Amazon’s robotics, check out https://bit.ly/RobotsAtAmazon.

 

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

 

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

 

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OUR PODCAST TEAM:  

Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf

Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko

Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan

Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross

Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.

 

CONNECT WITH US: 

YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership 

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 

IWebsite: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com 

 

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About Our Guests:  

Aaron Parness works as a Director of Applied Science in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence at Amazon. His teams in Seattle and Berlin build robotic work cells to increase delivery speed and reduce the cost of order fulfillment for Amazon customers. Specializing in high contact and high clutter applications, he has led advances in giving robots a sense of touch by incorporating force and torque sensors into the robots’ motion plans and control loops. From 2010 to 2019, Aaron worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he founded and led the Robotic Rapid Prototyping Laboratory specializing in grippers and wall climbing robots. He received his PhD from Stanford in 2009 advised by Mark Cutkosky; and earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering and BS in Creative Writing from MIT in 2004.

 

Beryl Tomay has been at Amazon for 20 years having joined in 2005 as a Software De