Where are they Now – Adam Beavis (OH ’93)

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: Adam Beavis (OH ’93) is Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand, at Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS, a subsidiary of American multinational technology company Amazon, is an IT service management company that provides on-demand cloud computing platforms and application programming interfaces to individuals, organisations and governments on a metered, pay-as-you-go basis to help them scale and grow.

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Adam was only a month into his new role as Managing Director. There were two things that really stuck out to him at the time. One was the incredible resilience of both AWS’s team and its customers, and the other was the rate at which the pandemic accelerated digital transformation. One of many AWS success stories include as testing for COVID-19 rapidly increased, AWS worked with New South Wales Pathology to help get test results back in just 24-hours versus what was initially taking seven to eight days.

Adam is involved in the building of Amazon’s new corporate headquarters in Melbourne’s Collins Street, kicking off a $1.5 billion commercial project and restoring faith in the enduring importance of CBD workplaces.
However, the road to the top wasn’t clear or easy for Adam. “When I landed my first job in IT, the manager at the time looked at me and said, ‘You don’t actually know much about technology, do you?’” he remembers with a snigger. “I was honest and told him no. And then he said that if I stayed back every night, he’d teach me everything I needed to know about computers. So for two years, I stayed back every night and cleaned computers while he taught me everything I needed to know about technology. Today, he’s still a great friend and mentor. And that’s where my curiosity grew from. From that point on, I knew that I always wanted to stay at the forefront of technology because I really enjoy the consistent change of the industry. I love being on the cutting-edge side of things.” (Source: CEO Magazine, 2 March 2021)

Congratulations on your success, Adam. Your hard work and perseverance has paid off!