Adam Selipsky returns to AWS as CEO. Now what? [Video]

It’s official: Tableau CEO Adam Selipsky is returning to AWS to take over as CEO when Andy Jassy takes the top job at Amazon later this year.

This is a surprising outcome, as many observers expected an internal hire to be made to replace Jassy, with the likes of AWS sales and marketing chief Matt Garman or senior vice president Charlie Bell the frontrunners.

Selipsky left AWS to take over as CEO of the analytics vendor Tableau in 2016, which he helped grow into a $1 billion revenue company before navigating a blockbuster $15 billion acquisition by Salesforce in 2019.

He will leave Salesforce to return to the cloud vendor in May 2021 to start his transition into the CEO role under fellow Harvard Business School grad Jassy, under whom he worked closely from 2005 to 2016 as COO at AWS.

“Adam brings strong judgment, customer obsession, team building, demand generation, and CEO experience to an already very strong AWS leadership team. …