Shopping has shifted forever. What mattered even two years ago no longer defines advantage today. The next frontier is confidence, clarity, and speed, and Amazon is engineering that experience from warehouse automation to the moment a customer says yes.
In this episode of The Speed of Culture podcast, recorded live at the Amazon Warehouse in Robbinsville, N.J., Matt Britton speaks with Amanda Doerr, VP of core shopping at Amazon, for a deep and practical look at how Amazon AI shopping is reshaping the entire buying journey.
From the launch of Rufus AI shopping assistant and breakthroughs in AI review summarization to the rise of conversational commerce, voice commerce, and mobile-first ecommerce, Amanda shares how Amazon is solving customer friction and building the foundation for the future of ecommerce 2026.
Amanda Doerr is a technology and product executive with more than 20 years of experience across ecommerce, machine learning, connected devices, and operating systems. Her work focuses on building highly available systems, scaling creative cross-functional teams, and delivering products that solve real customer friction at scale.
She also partners closely with the teams supporting third-party sellers, advancing AI tools for small businesses that strengthen marketplace growth and product confidence. Amanda is known for pairing technical depth with human-centered problem-solving, delivering technology that feels personal, intuitive, and genuinely useful.
Key takeaways:
[02:15] Intelligent Fulfillment and the Real Engine Behind Speed — Amanda paints a vivid picture of how far Amazon’s fulfillment centers have come from associates walking miles of shelving each day to highly coordinated environments powered by robotics, automation, and forecasting models that anticipate demand. This is the backbone of Amazon AI shopping, where precision meets scale. Human teams and intelligent systems work side-by-side so that when a shopper taps Buy, the right product is already positioned to move quickly and confidently out the door.
[04:32] Solving Real Buying Friction with AI Review Summarization — Amanda describes how AI review summarization changes the evaluation moment by turning thousands of scattered opinions into a clear, digestible understanding of what matters most. Customers can scan the essentials, value, build quality, waterproofing, durability and avoid drowning in so much information. Paired with the Rufus AI shopping assistant, shoppers can ask focused questions and get guidance shaped around their priorities, building clarity and purchase confidence in seconds instead of hours.
[07:10] Conversational Commerce and the Upper-Funnel Decision Moment — Amanda brings conversational commerce to life through a personal story where she was shopping for a turntable without knowing where to begin. Instead of searching blindly, she engaged with the Rufus AI shopping assistant, refining step by step through budget, features, and intended use. The experience felt like talking to a knowledgeable person rather than navigating a catalog grid. This is the future of AI shopping assistant Amazon technology: supporting uncertainty, curiosity, and exploration long before a product is chosen.
