Last Week in AWS is a newsletter and blog providing updates, insights, and commentary on developments within the Amazon Web Services (AWS) ecosystem. Readers can stay informed about new AWS services, feature releases, and industry trends. Additionally, they can learn about best practices for cloud architecture, cost optimization, and security in AWS environments.

The Last Week in AWS

AWS remains financially strong with $132B annual revenue and 29% market share, but faces challenges in operational excellence and talent retention. While Azure's growth numbers are questionable due to unclear financial reporting, Google Cloud emerges as the real competitive threat with clean 34% growth and $155B backlog. AWS's re:Invent 2025 announcements signal strategic shifts toward multi-cloud acceptance, on-premises investment, and democratized AI model training. Though AWS's AI capabilities have become credible with Nova 2 and Trainium3, execution concerns persist—particularly the October us-east-1 outage response time and 69-81% regretted attrition among senior engineers. Success in 2026 depends on whether AWS can maintain operational excellence while retaining institutional knowledge during organizational restructuring.

AWS in 2026: The Year of Proving They Still Know How to Operate

Position One: Stop Taking Azure's Growth Numbers at Face Value

Position Two: Google Cloud Is the Actual Competitive Story

Position Three: re:Invent 2025 Was AWS Admitting Reality

Position Four: The AI Gap Is Real but Overstated

Position Five: The Talent Hemorrhage Is the Real Risk

Position Six: 2026 Is About Execution, Not Strategy