Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman has criticized the idea of firing junior workers because artificial intelligence tools can do parts of their jobs. He called the approach “the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Garman made his comments during a recent discussion with investor Matthew Berman. He was speaking about AWS’s Kiro tool, which uses AI to help developers write code, and about the way companies are reacting to rapid changes in technology.
According to Garman, some business leaders believe AI systems can make entry-level employees unnecessary. He rejected that belief, saying junior staff are often the least expensive employees in a company and the most eager to use AI tools.
He warned that removing early-career workers would damage organizations over time. “How’s that going to work when ten years in the future you have no one that has learned anything,” he asked.
Garman argued that hiring young workers remains essential. “You absolutely want to keep hiring kids out of college and teaching them the right ways to go build software and decompose problems and think about it, just as much as you ever have,” he said.
He added that AI can be a helpful partner in training. Tools like Kiro can support young developers, helping them understand software design and improve their problem-solving skills while still learning from more experienced mentors.
The CEO also dismissed another common way some executives evaluate AI. He pushed back on the practice of measuring AI value by the percentage of code generated within a company.
“It’s a silly metric,” he said. Companies can ask AI to produce many lines of code, but he warned that more code is not always good. “Often times fewer lines of code is way better than more lines of code,” he added.
Garman said he is often surprised that leaders treat volume as progress. In his view, quality matters more than quantity when building stable and secure systems that can handle complex business needs.
Still, AI adoption across AWS is strong. He shared that internal data shows more than 80 percent of AWS developers now use AI in some part of their work.
According to Garman, developers use AI for a range of tasks. Some rely on it to create unit tests, others for writing documentation, and many for code development. In some cases, engineers set up workflows where AI agents collaborate with human staff.
He added that the number of employees using AI inside AWS increases every week, showing the momentum behind these tools and the willingness of developers to integrate them into daily work.
The comments come as AWS continues to expand its AI offerings. Kiro, its AI-assisted coding tool, has drawn attention both for its potential and its costs. Some developers have described the tool as expensive, with critics calling its pricing “a wallet-wrecking tragedy.”
The company has also been forced to fix flaws in its earlier Q Developer system, which was vulnerable to prompt injection attacks and remote code execution. Those issues raised concerns about security in AI coding agents, though AWS says the problems have been fixed.
Even as AI becomes central to AWS’s business, Garman suggested that education and career development remain just as important. He believes schools and training programs should prepare students for a future where technology changes very quickly.
“I think the skills that should be emphasized are how do you think for yourself? How do you develop critical reasoning for solving problems? How do you develop creativity? How do you develop a learning mindset that you’re going to go learn to do the next thing?” he said.
He warned against teaching only narrow technical skills that may become outdated. In his view, critical thinking, creativity, and problem solving will remain valuable even as AI automates specific tasks.
For Garman, the focus should be on teaching people how to break down problems and think logically, rather than only memorizing tools that could be replaced within a decade.
His remarks reflect a broader debate across the tech industry. Some companies are moving quickly to replace roles with AI, while others, like AWS, frame AI as a partner that supports human work.
By stressing the need to hire and train junior staff, Garman aligned himself with the second view. He suggested that blending human learning with AI support offers the most promising way to build strong teams.
At a time when many workers fear automation, his comments may reassure those entering the job market. For AWS, it is also a chance to show that while AI matters, human growth and learning matter too.
