Amazon GenAI specialist Jenny Jau talks rough few weeks amid store closures and job losses
Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past few weeks, you will know that Amazon is binning its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh physical stores experiment and announcing major job cuts.
Addressing the controversial moves in a LinkedIn post, Jenny Jau, Director, GenAI Visual Media, commented: “The last few weeks have been rough. First, the closure of the Just Walk Out stores - something many of us remember as intense, scrappy, and exhausting, yet forging many lasting ties - an incredible collaboration between the most driven product, engineering, and design leaders.”
“One of my fondest memories was the entire product team being all hands on deck, installing actual store components to meet a major launch deadline (a much belated thank you to that team).”
She added: “Next came the broader layoffs across the industry hitting people I highly respect and care about. It’s been hard to watch friends and old teammates go through this. I hope you will reach out if I can be of service.”
Lau said that she currently has openings for experienced principal/senior product managers and software development managers.
“Looking for someone analytical, customer centric, can excel in running business operations, impactful in strategic visioning for 0-to-1 AI innovations, and/or fluent in Amazon backend e-commerce infrastructure requirements.”
“My current team is building image technology, with a focus on fashion and beauty - interests in this domain or a background in computer vision would be a bonus. Must be based in Seattle or NYC. If that sounds like you, or someone you know, I’d love to connect.”
RTIH AI in Retail Awards
Brarista, IBM Consulting, Foundit!, Quorso, Vusion, Sensei, Reckon.ai, EE, Walkbase, Globant, Riskified, and Goddiva were among the winners at the RTIH AI in Retail Awards, sponsored by VenHub Global, 3D Cloud, EdTech Innovation Hub, and Retail Technology Show.
Our 2026 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The Barbican in Central London on Thursday, 29th January, and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Lucy Porter.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “According to Amazon’s Andy Jassy: AI is a once in a lifetime reinvention of everything we know, and the largest technology transformation since the cloud.”
“Whether that’s overstating it or not, we're certainly seeing an increasing number of innovative, potentially game changing developments in this space across both traditional and digital retail spaces. And that is reflected in tonight's finalists, who are boosting customer experiences and tackling retailers' painpoints across the likes of physical stores, online, omnichannel, supply chain, and payments.”
“To quote one of our judges: I have to admit, judging these awards was so difficult. So many that would have been worthy winners. And great to see how AI has moved firmly into delivery mode. Firmly into delivering for customers and driving huge innovation.”
Congratulations to our 2026 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Lucy Porter, and all those who attended our Thursday, 29th January gathering.
Stay tuned for an indepth review of the awards ceremony in the next edition of RTIH magazine.
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