"How Much Are You Using Our AI?"...Amazon to Factor It into Employee Evaluations

Amazon Encourages Use of In-house AI Tool 'Kiro'
Incorporates It into Performance Reviews...Some Employees Grumble
Big Tech Firms Like Microsoft and Meta Also Use AI-related Metrics

Amazon is tracking employees' use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools and is incorporating that into personnel evaluations.

Amazon has been tracking employees' use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools and incorporating it into personnel evaluations, Reuters and Yonhap News reported.

On the 19th (local time), Yonhap News, citing the U.S. IT-specialized outlet The Information, reported that "according to multiple sources, Amazon is using an internal system called 'Clarity' to track how frequently employees use AI tools." Managers are reportedly able to use this system to see which AI tools employees are using and how often they use Kiro, the company's in-house AI model.

Amazon is also using the status of AI utilization in personnel evaluations, including promotions. For example, employees on the Supply Chain Optimization Technologies team were given performance review questions such as "How did you use AI to drive innovation, improve the customer experience, or increase operational efficiency and effectiveness?" Managers were asked questions such as "How did you achieve more with fewer resources?" and "Provide specific examples of how you enhanced capabilities and drove innovation by using AI without reducing or increasing headcount."

These questions had previously been applied only to promotion reviews for mid-level managers and above within teams, but since July last year they have reportedly been expanded to all employees with promotion potential. In this regard, Amazon Vice President Matt Taddy explained that the change was intended "to align the promotion system with impact, efficiency, and execution rather than organizational size."

Amazon stated, "By understanding how employees are adopting new technologies, we can support them in driving innovation in their day-to-day work and delivering value to customers," adding, "We share AI adoption practices and best practices not only during review periods but throughout the year to encourage company-wide innovation and improvements in operational efficiency."

Amazon's AI coding agent 'Kiro' as shown on the official website.

According to The Information, there has also been some grumbling within Amazon about the company's moves. Employees are reportedly unhappy that they are required to use Kiro instead of external AI models such as Anthropic's Claude Code. In particular, as this coincides with two rounds of layoffs in which 30,000 people were cut in October last year and January this year, attention is focusing on AI-driven changes. However, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has said that the restructuring was "not for financial reasons or because of AI, but because of organizational culture."

Meanwhile, other tech companies such as Microsoft (MS), Meta, and Accenture are also said to be encouraging employees to use AI and incorporating related metrics and data into personnel evaluations.

In an internal email last November, Julia Liuson, President of Microsoft, said, "AI is now central to how we work and is essential in every role and at every level," adding, "Whether or not employees use AI tools should be an important criterion in evaluating their performance and impact." This is also interpreted as an attempt to increase internal use of Microsoft's own AI tools, such as GitHub Copilot.