Inside Amazon’s Big Bets: Leading on Climate and Delivery

Episode notes

Guests: Sarah Mathew (VP, Delivery Experience) & Kara Hurst (Chief Sustainability Officer) of Amazon How do you lead responsibly at scale in a world defined by complexity? In this episode, Amazon executives Kara Hurst and Sarah Mathew share how they approach some of the most pressing challenges in global business today: climate impact, water scarcity, customer expectations, AI-driven energy demands, and improving delivery across thousands of communities. Drawing on real examples from Amazon’s climate pledge, same-day delivery expansion, and customer-driven innovation, Kara and Sarah illuminate three capabilities every future-ready leader must master: Innovating at scale to create real-world impact Using customer signals to drive operational and strategic decisions Leading with transparency to accelerate trust and cross-industry progress. You’ll hear how Amazon uses sustainability as a strategic lever, why anecdotes often reveal enterprise-level problems, how new features reached 50+ million uses in a month, and why transparency (NOT secrecy) is becoming a defining leadership advantage.